Harry Potter and the Puella Moveo Forma Periculum
by MinervaFirenze
Summary: Hey People, NEW CHAPTERS ARE NOW UP. LOTS OF THEM! Whoah, we went from chapter two to chapter nine(or eleven, if we get them up.) Please review and if you want to find out what the title is, look it up. HINT: it's in a really old lanugage. Enjoy!
1. Letters, Names, and Grades

Disclaimer: that should be obvious

**Disclaimer: that should be obvious! _Everything_ belongs to J.K. Rowling, and if you're reading this, you better know that. Also, if you've never read all four Harry Potter books, please don't read this! **

Chapter 1

Harry was awake, staring at the ceiling at 3:00 that morning.He was thinking about the newspaper article he had read last night.The sightings of Voldemort were becoming more frequent now.A young woman who was named something like Henrietta Marchbanks had seen the first sighting.She said that Voldemort was horrifying, his face was like that of a snake, and his eyes were a gleaming red.Harry agreed with everything this woman said.

Harry sat up when Hedwig hooted and a small feathered being tapped on the window.Harry got out of bed and opened the window to find a very small owl carrying a parcel almost as large as the owl was.Harry recognized the minuet owl as Pig, the Weasley's owl.Harry hoped that a letter from his best friend Ron was in the parcel.He took out a letter and looked at the handwriting on the envelope, it was small, but clear and Harry figured that it was Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother.Harry opened Mrs. Weasley's letter and read:

_ _

_Dearest Harry,_

_ _

_I certainly hope this reaches you, as I'm not sure this little owl is up for the trip. But if and when it reaches you, I hope it finds you in good health and having a fun summer._

_ _

_I thoroughly apologize for not allowing you to come stay with us this summer, as Arthur tells me that the Dursleys don't treat you very well, and we would have loved to have you for the whole summer._

(Harry sighed as he read this, remembering the last summer's encounter between the Dursleys and Arthur Weasley, in which Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had refused at first to even say good-bye to Harry. He knew Mr. Weasley was a good father and gladly would have taken Harry to relieve him from the Dursley's treatment had he not made the decision that it would be safer for Harry at the Dursleys', in case it would be more difficult for Voldemort to find Harry at non-magic residence. Upon hearing this news for the first time, Harry, in great disappointment, had not been able to understand this- wouldn't Voldemort know, now that he was back and in perfect health and mind, that Harry was staying with his aunt and uncle? But sure enough, after most of the summer, no sign of Voldemort had turned up anywhere near the Dursley household, though they had not too far off. Harry had started ordering the Daily Prophet just recently to arrive at his house at nighttime (so as not to startle the Dursleys into stopping his order) so that he could keep track of any sightings of Voldemort. This had been at the advice of Harry's wonderful godfather, Sirius Black, to which Harry had at first wondered why he himself hadn't thought of that, then later if that would do any good at all, as Harry was sure Voldemort wouldn't be stupid enough to let himself be seen. But, sure enough, a week after Harry had started ordering it, Harry saw with a start an article headlined: SIGHTINGS OF VOLDEMORT- REAL AND NOW OR JUST BAD MEMORIES OF THE PAST? A few sightings had been made, and later more and more articles of that same type. But they did not seem to be moving any closer to Harry, and that relieved him a bit. 

So it had turned out that Harry had been proven wrong a few times. Harry got back to reading the letter. 

_"Anyway, we hope that you are enjoying your summer and think it might be good for you to go and stay with the Grangers for a while, because that is also a Muggle residence and it might be nice to meet them and get out of the house. Perhaps you should ask Hermione about it. And if you would like me to write a letter to the Grangers to ask that, I would be happy to do so_ _(or rather Arthur would, he's fascinated by the Muggle post). And anything else you might need, don't hesitate to ask. I'm always here to act as a motherly being when you need one! _

_ _

_Sincerely, _

_ _

_Molly Weasley_

_ _

_ _

_P.S. If you need a ride to Diagon Alley or King's Cross if you are not going to stay with the Grangers, please just send me a note back with Pig. Thanks, and have a happy holiday!_

Harry looked up from the letter to see that Pig had landed and was cocking his head at Harry as if asking for another delivery mission. Harry smiled and took the next letter out of the package. He grinned when he recognized the scribbly handwriting as one of his best friend's, Ron Weasley.

_Hey Harry! Sorry for Mum's little over-protective note, if you've read it yet. Gag me. Anyway, what she says is true, if you need anything like a ride to Diagon Alley, just send a note. In fact, why don't you just plan on us picking you up at 11:00 AM on the 31st? Then you can spend the night (I don't care what Mum and Dad say, I haven't seen you for TOO long! ) and we can drive you to King's Cross the next morning, as Dad finally was able to get a car with no invisibility button or flying abilities. Dang._

(Harry remembered with a laugh the Weasley's old car which had had those special features that Ron and Harry had taken advantage of in an attempt to fly the car to Hogwarts, Harry's school, without Mr. and Mrs. Weasley knowing about it.)

_So there! Count on that, unless you send us an owl saying you'll stay with the Grangers, which I hope you will, because I feel bad that you have to spend a whole summer with whale-boy, beanpole, and turnip-face just because of my stupid parents. _

_Anyway, I hope they're not starving you like before, but just in case I've sent a big pack of pretzels and some...err...ok, there's a few chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every-Flavored Beans in there that I swiped from Fred and George's stash, but I'm sure they'd donate to a worthy cause if they... um... knew about it._

Harry plunged his hand into the package once more and pulled out a large bag of pretzels and the wonderful magical candies. He hid them immediately under his loose floor-boards, as, yes, the Dursleys were attempting to put the whole family on a diet again, and, no, it wasn't working on Dudley a bit, he could now be easily mistaken for a large bear, and, yes, Dudley would quickly devour any ounce of food he could get his hands on, especially candy, even if it meant he had to brutally murder his poor cousin. But Harry couldn't resist nibbling on one of the chocolate frogs as he finished Ron's letter. __

_Well, everything's as usual here, Percy's even more work-devoted than usual (barf) because, he claims, "Now that my dear, *sniff*, wonderful, fabulous Mr. Crouch has gone forever, I must work my hardest to uphold the department, and maybe I might even get another promotion." Ok, ok, you can tell which part of that quote is true and which isn't. Fred and George have finally dropped the whole Ludo Bagman business, after much argument from my mother, who curiously found out about it, and are now back to the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which still remain in secret from the folks, though not for long, I'm sure, as Mum's on their trail there, too. And Charlie's back to Romania, Bill to Egypt, and Ginny's here at home, sitting in her room, reading a magazine (a new hobby of hers), and sighing over you. Me? I'm just, I don't know, doing nothing, a little bit of Quidditch practice here and there.Well, got to be off, Pig is looking anxious to deliver something. Send me an owl about the 31st, and make sure you keep following those sightings of You- Know- Who!_

__

_Ron_

Harry smiled and quickly turned the note over, grabbed his pen, and scribbled: _Ron- thanks for the letters and snacks. 31st sounds great, though you should ask your mum about it. Yes, I'm watching out for_ (here Harry started writing "Voldemort", then thought better of it, crossed it out, and wrote "You-Know-Who" to please Ron, who insisted in sticking to that nickname for the Dark Lord.) _You-Know-Who. Thanks again, and see you soon (hopefully),_

_ _

_Harry_

There. He set the note down on his bedside table so he could continue reading the other letters. Then he turned to the piece of paper the barn owl had dropped, wondering whom he knew that owned one of those. He opened the letter and realized that Hermione had sent it, and she must be staying with Viktor Krum, the boy from Durmstrang that she had met that past year and had gone to the Yule Ball with.

__

_Dear Harry,_

_ _

_How are you? I'm having a lovely summer, though I doubt that you can say the same. I'm staying right now with Viktor's family, who is quite nice, and the only other wizard family I've ever met besides Ron's! The house is humongous and beautiful, with lovely gardens, and… Well, anyway, I'm sure you don't want to hear all of that at a time like this, which I know must be really stressful for you. I've been ordering the Daily Prophet as well, and I'm really worried about all those sightings of You-Know-Who! _[Yep, thought Harry, that was Hermione, worry, worry, worry...]_ You really should go stay with the Weasley's for the last three weeks of summer, at least there's a few grown wizards to protect you there! I myself will be staying with the Krum's for the rest of the summer, until, of course, a couple days before the 1st of September. But we really should meet up with Ron and go to Diagon Alley together sometime before then. Well, I want you to keep me posted on how things are going and if you're worried and if your scar hurts... IF YOUR SCAR HURTS AT ALL I want you to go straight away to Sirius or Dumbledore_ (Harry knew that Dumbledore, Hogwarts' headmaster, was said to be the only wizard Voldemort was afraid of.) _and then write me and tell me right away, okay? I miss you, and look out for yourself, Harry! And go stay at the Weasleys' if you can! If you can't, write me and I'll figure out something._

_Hermione_

Oh, great, thought Harry. Now he was really in a fix: Ron wanted Harry to stay with the Grangers, Hermione wanted Harry to stay with the Weasleys, and he knew that if he didn't, they'd both freak out and get worried...He knew there was no possible way he could stay with either of them...There was only one thing to do, Harry thought, for his friends' sakes. He would simply stay here, with the Dursleys, for the rest of the summer, and get a ride form the Weasleys to Diagon Alley... it was the best he could do for the time being. Great. Harry grabbed the note he was writing to Ron off the bedside table and scribbled on the bottom: _P.S. It turns out I can't go stay with Hermione, but it's alright, don't worry, I'll just stay at the Dursley's till the 31st. Dumbledore seems to think this is the safest place for me anyway. See ya._

__He sent the letter off in Pig's beak, scribbled a similar one to Hermione, and sent that too with the Barn owl. 

Harry sighed and looked at his watch. 3:00 AM! He should get some sleep... He hid the letters and chocolate frog wrapper with the candy and pretzel stash, and was just climbing back into bed, when he heard something tap at the window. _What?_, he thought, looking out the window at the familiar, minute owl that sat on his edge impatiently, _I've already gotten the Daily Prophet for today!_ He pulled open the window reluctantly to discover that it was not the wizard newspaper, but a rolled up letter. He pulled it open hurriedly while giving the tiny owl a drink.

__

_Dear Harry,_ (Harry recognized the loopy writing as Sirius's, and realized that the owl must be an owl from the post office at Hogsmeade, the wizarding village where Sirius had been living now for a while.) _I can't write much now, hope all is well with you. It seems that Voldemort has discarded Peter Pettigrew from his ring of followers, and Peter is out on his own, wandering around aimlessly somewhere, and I'm on his trail. As soon as I catch him, I can have my name cleared, and you can move in immediately._

Harry's heart leapt at this statement the way it had when he first figured out that Sirius Black was his godfather, and Sirius had offered for Harry to live with him.

_But however close to catching him I am, I hope you will forgive me that I will not be able to have you live with me until probably next summer, as it takes time to have my name cleared, reclaim my house and vault at Gringotts, and change my home to an appropriate living space for a 15-year-old boy! Please inform me immediately at anything-strange happening, and keep up your order of the Daily Prophet. Have a good summer,_

_ _

_Sirius_

_ _

Harry sighed. The solution to his problem had been right there- if only Sirius could find him soon! But at least that was something to be happy about- his godfather was going to have his name cleared! He would no longer be known as the criminal escaped from Azkaban that everyone but Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore believed him to be. He could be recognized as the honest, wrongly accused man that he was. And Harry was going to live with him! No more Dursleys! Harry sighed, with his heart weighed with worry, sorrow, and a faint ray of happiness, sent the owl off to the dark skies, and fell into a deep sleep, preparing to face the three weeks that remained of summer. 

The next morning, Harry trudged down to breakfast rubbing his eyes, to find that Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley were already seated at the table, watching Dudley's new DVD player he had received for his birthday. "Well, finally!" shrieked Aunt Petunia as Harry sat down at the table. "Now get over there and fetch us our breakfasts, we're in the middle of a good show! What was this called, Dudley-dear?"

" The Matrix, Mum."

"That's right, now go on, they're on the counter."

Harry grudgingly stood up and went to the kitchen to get the nasty, orange-brown protein drink that was the Dursley's "breakfast". Harry brought in all four glasses in one trip, now used to the Dursley's new habit of having Harry do everything for them while they claimed to watch the movies. He slammed them down on the table and fixed his eyes on the TV screen. Harry had watched Dudley watch this movie before; he knew it was right at the good part, where... 

Petunia's shrill voice interrupted the movie. 

"All right, it looks like it's over, right?! Let's turn it off." And with that, ignoring Dudley's protests, she reached out and clicked off the TV. Harry was used to this as well, as it happened almost every morning: Aunt Petunia would use the DVD player as an excuse to get Harry to do the work, and when Harry was done and would sit down to watch too, she would snap it off. Well, typical. 

"Now, who wants to go get the mail? Dudleykins?"

"Don't call me that."

"Oh, now, baby, why not?"

"I'm not a baby! Don't call me anything!"

"Now, Dudley-"

"Not even that! Now I want to be called, um, how 'bout Fang." Harry started laughing so hard, not even being an expert at keeping a straight face would work now, he thought, looking at Dudley. Fang? That was a more accurate description of Dudley than Baby, at least, but it certainly didn't suit him. He looked more like a Fatty McGee, or maybe Big-Fat-Rolly-Polly-on-legs.

"Silence, boy!" Uncle Vernon intruded.

"Yes." agreed Petunia, "this is no time to laugh! You should be supporting Dudley's decisions, you cruel, cruel boy!" 

Harry snorted even louder at this, and was glad for Aunt Petunia's interruption, "Someone, go and get the mail!"

So Harry was finally the one to stand up and retrieve the mail. Sometimes he liked this chore, as he got to see what everyone was receiving for the day. He flipped through the small quantity of letters. None for him, that was usual... those looked like bills...some letter in scroll writing, probably from Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister who despised Harry, but loved taunting him. She had managed to squeeze onto the envelope:For "The Whole Dursley Family, and that doesn't include anyone of the name of Harry Potter." Harry chuckled a little at this, remembering the time a few summers ago when he had gotten so mad at her that he had accidentally made her inflate like a balloon and pop. He kept flipping through. Aha, here was one that looked interesting: "For the Parents/Guardians of Dudley Dursley". Harry held it up to the light to try and read what it said- "HURRY UP WITH THAT MAIL, BOY!" shouted Uncle Vernon. Harry sighed and shoved the letter into the middle of the pile, crossed back to the table, and dropped them next to Mr. Dursley's plate. 

"There, your highness." Harry mumbled. 

"WHAT was that?"

"Nothing." Harry didn't want them to go into a fit now, not after Dudley's little name-announcement. Aunt Petunia snatched the mail and started looking through it, opening every one hurriedly. 

"Not more bills! Ah, here's one from Marge, Vernon. It's for Dudley, you and I..." she through an icy look in Harry's direction. "It reads 'Dearest Vernon, Petunia, Dudley,-'" 

"Fang," Dudley mumbled angrily, as if Aunt Marge was already supposed to have known this.

" 'Fang,'" Petunia corrected, " 'I hope your summer is going well, and I am sorry to inform you that you won't be graced with my presence on this holiday. Forgive me, but I will be on a new business trip with my new job.'" 

"Pity," Harry thought, and wondered what her new job was. He could just imagine her as a stewardess, trying vainly to fit the cart and herself, down the aisle, and getting stuck. His visions were interrupted by Petunia continuing: 

" 'I hope to come visit you during the school year, however, while that awful delinquent is out of the house. Please enjoy the rest of your vacation, and forgive me for not coming to visit. Sincerely, Marge.'"

"Ah, Well, that's ashamed," sighed Aunt Petunia.

"Any more mail?" mumbled Uncle Vernon.

"Oh, yes. "For the Parents/guardians of Dudley Dursley."

"Oh, Fang I do hope this is your Report Card!" Aunt Petunia opened it excitedly, and read out loud: "Oh, yes here it is! Science…F, Math…F, English…F, World Studies…D+, oh, well that's pretty good, Physical Education…F, Art…A+. Well, um… Fang… I'm ever so proud of your Art Skills, but-"

"Dudley! I can't believe you-"

"Wait, now wait, these Fs might accidentally mean as, and…ah, here, another note was included in the envelope. It says: For the Parents of Dudley Dursley-"

"FANG!"

"Whatever, we regret to inform you that your child has not been invited back to Smeltings High School this year. This is for the following reasons-

1. His report card shows that he failed almost every subject in school-"

"NOT TRUE!" shouted Uncle Vernon, enraged.

"Oh, Vernon," Aunt Petunia wailed, wiping tears from her eyes, "You read the rest out loud. I can't bear it."

"Okay, okay: 

'2. He has been exhibiting unacceptable behavior towards his fellow students, as you know, because we sent home the letter about poor Wilfred Banks' nose. 

3. His uniform was specially made last year, and there will be no more exceptions made, now that his uniform size is XXXXXXXXXL Super-Size. We are sorry, but your son is, to put it bluntly, expelled. Have a good year, and good luck in finding another school for your son. Sincerely, Arnold Smelting.'" 

"Ex-ex-expelled?!" screeched Aunt Petunia. "Surely that doesn't mean, that can't mean that-" and she burst into tears. 

"WHAT?" roared Uncle Vernon. "EXPELLED?! From SMELTINGS! Dudley-"

"Fang, Dad, Fang!"

"I'll call you whatever I damn well please!"

Harry couldn't bear it anymore. He dashed out of the house and into the yard, and fell down on the lawn with laughter. Expelled? Dudley? Harry could hardly believe it. _Where would he be able to go to now?,_ Harry wondered as he calmed down and went inside.When he reached the kitchen, the doors were closed and Harry felt that he should not intruded on this delicate conversation.Harry's smile broadened at that thought.He could faintly here an ANGRY (imagine!) Uncle Vernon scolding Dudley.He headed up to his room and collapsed on the bed feeling considerably happier than he had in a while.


	2. Two meetings...

Hey everyone

**Hey everyone! This is chapter 2…… as you can tell…..hopefully….. anyway, hopefully it's starting to look a little better, cuz I know Chapter 1 was sorta boring. It _will_ get better, you gotta trust us on this one. All right, you people NEED TO REVIEW MORE! Even if it's a flame, hey, it's better than nothing! We'll really _really_ appreciate it! Thanks to those who did! Enjoy the story, and ignore the really cheesy parts, we're were just having some fun with Harry's mind…. :Þ**

Chapter 2-

The rest of the summer went surprisingly well- much better than Harry had expected. This was due to the fact that the Dursleys were treating him in amazingly kind fashion. At first, Harry couldn't understand this, then found out the reason as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon started hinting to Harry: "Well, you know you and Dudley are related… he really does belong in that school of yours, maybe…" 

The thing was, Harry realized, that Dudley wasn't being accepted to any schools, and their last resort (after even St. Brutus's School for Incurably Criminal Boys had just turned down their last letter request) was that Harry would take Dudley with him to Hogwarts. Harry just about died when he heard this. Did they really want Dudley at Hogwarts? Harry was about to shout, "YEAH, RIGHT!!" but he restrained himself, because he didn't want his nice treatment from the Dursleys to turn back to their normal cruel treatment. So instead he pretended he hadn't heard this remark, and went on licking the ice-cone Aunt Petunia had bought him while Dudley (still on the starvation-diet) looked on enviously.Finally September 1 started drawing closer, and Harry was looking more and more forward to escaping the Dursleys, who were growing so sickeningly sweet that he could barely stand it anymore.

Finally, as the Dursleys were unloading Harry's bags for him right in front of the Leaky Cauldron, which looked more inviting than ever, Uncle Vernon muttered, "Oh, yeah…um…Harry… you wouldn't mind…no, of course you wouldn't…" Harry quickly picked up his trunk. "Could you just take your dear cousin Dudley with you to your school? I'm sure they'd…er… welcome him there." Harry, who had expected this, was ready with his answer. 

"Uncle Vernon- you've been really nice to me the past few weeks, but NO." And with that he stammered a hurried good-bye and lugged his trunk through the door of the Leaky Cauldron. He could hear Uncle Vernon outside, muttering, "Oh, come on, boy…that stupid kid…why wouldn't he…" and then he heard the door of the car slam and they drove away.

"Harry!" greeted the toothless owner of the pub.

"Tom!How have you been?"Harry ran up and shook hand with his old friend.Just two years ago Harry had lived here for a whole week.

"Well, right into the Alley now, I believe the Weasleys and Hermione are waiting for you near the Starbucks Café. _[editor's note: I couldn't think of any other name! It just came to mind! :Þ Don't get us in trouble for it, please…__]_ If I'm remembering right."

"Thanks, Tom.Good to see you again."Harry waved and headed for the courtyard, where the entrance to the Alley was.

"Oh, and Harry?"Tom was standing in the back doorway, only a silhouette against the light.

"Yeah?"

"Will you be staying here tonight?"

"No, I'd love to, but I'm going with the Weasleys."The innkeeper's face turned serious.

"Harry, I want you to, well, watch out for yourself, hear me?"Harry laughed, then cut off as he saw Tom's eyes get a stern look in them."Harry, one of my friends, Henrietta, she was one of those who saw…You – Know – Who."

Harry nodded solemnly, for he recognized the name.

"Henrietta… yeah, she was the first, right?" 

Tom nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, I'll be careful, of course," Harry assured the innkeeper.They said good-bye and Tom disappeared into the pub as Harry turned back to the wall where he tapped the correct brick with his wand and the wall vanished into a gateway to Diagon Alley.Harry loved being in here again, for he had been deprived from the wizarding people for a whole summer and begin to drink in all the familiar sights.He strolled down the Alley, his mind more at ease than it had been for the whole summer.On his way to the café, he chatted with a few fellow students that he knew from Hogwarts.Everyone looked a bit shorter than they had the year before – or had Harry just grown?

When he reached the café, he hurried to the first table his eyes met, for wherever he saw that eye – catching red hair, there, he knew, he would find the Weasleys.But when he reached the table, his jaw dropped.There, under the red hair, was a beautiful girl about Harry's age.She was sipping a Serena's Stupendous Strength building Shake, that made her able to lift the whole book- covered table, with only a pinky, and laughing as if she had never seen such a thing in her life.Harry's jaw dropped again, though he had never picked it up in the first place.

[_editor's note: this last sentence was not supposed to be there! We left it there on accident! It was a joke!_ ]

She was sitting across from another younger girl, also unknown to Harry, and next to her sat a kind, pleasant-seeming man who even so looked amused at the idea of a strength-building potion milkshake. The older girl was, as mentioned, amazingly beautiful with flaming red hair, dancing green eyes with a strange gold ring around the pupils, and an entrancing smile. She was not a veela, for she did not look a thing like one, but she seemed to have the same effect on Harry.

"Hey," she greeted Harry, looking up from her milkshake. "What's up?" She had a strange accent, so Harry could tell that she must be from the U.S. 

"Uh…um…nothing, sorry, I was just…" 

The girl laughed the strange, clear and lovely _[again, could we get any more cheesy? This is fun!]_, and said, "My name is Calli. Are you a student at Hogwarts, too?" 

"Oh, um, yeah." Harry shook himself out of his trance. "Yeah, 5th year there. My name's … Harry."

"Awesome! I'm a 5th year too! My sis here's name is Marie. She's gonna be in 2nd year. Say hello, Marie."

The little girl was much smaller than Calli, and had curly, dark brown hair and blue eyes, and looked much more like the man, who Harry assumed to be her father, than like Calli. 

"Hello," squeaked Marie quietly, and shrunk into her chair.

"She's kinda shy sometimes," whispered Calli. "But don't mind her. Also this is my Dad, Marcus." She gestured to the man, who smiled kindly at Harry and waved. 

"Well, um, see you tomorrow, I guess," said Harry. "Nice meeting you."

"Oh, and you too, Harry. Bye!" 

And Harry marched off, dazed, to find the _real _Weasley's. His eyes spotted them right away, and he headed for another table with _6_ red heads at it, no just one. 

"HARRY!" shouted Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley at once. Ron and Hermione jumped up and embraced Harry, and stood back. 

"Woah, woah, back up!" chuckled Harry, and stood back. "Wow," he said, seeing Ron and Hermione. Ron, who had always been taller than Harry, was now as tall or taller than Mr. Weasley himself. And Hermione had grown, too, although she still wasn't as tall as Ron. But Harry still did a little jump as he saw her, for she no longer seemed the bushy-haired, skinny, small Hermione he had always known. Now she seemed, well, different. But what surprised him most was that he himself was almost as tall as Ron now. They both grinned at him, and Hermione gasped,

"Harry! Jeez, did you have like a major growth spurt or what?" 

Harry laughed and said, "I see you've both done your fair share as well." 

And they stood looking each other over until Mrs. Weasley said, "Well, come on and have a seat Harry, and tell us about your summer!" So they sat down and ordered some drinks and Harry told them all about his torturous summer. 

"And those sightings didn't bother you at all?" asked Hermione, exasperated. 

"Yeah, of course they did a _little_, but not so much because Dumbledore seemed to trust that I'd be okay at the Dursley's, and what can I say? I'm alive!" He went on to tell them about Dudley's expulsion and their request to send him to Hogwarts. Fred and George thought it especially funny. 

"Ha!" laughed George, "I can just see him fitting right in with Crabbe and Goyle, huh?" 

"Yeah," agreed Fred, "He'd be surprised that finally he's the one in danger of being beat up." 

"Well, let's get on shopping, shall we?" said Mr. Weasley. "Ron, you, Hermione and Harry can go off by yourselves, _if _you're careful." 

"Right, thanks, Dad!" said Ron, and the three of them headed off towards the bookshop, with Ginny looking on jealously, especially at Harry. 

As they paid for their regular old textbooks, Ron whispered to Harry, 

"Hey, who was that girl you were talking to at that other table?" 

Harry sighed. "Well, I went over there thinking it was you, you know, the hair. Anyway, she sounded American, and she's a 5th year too, and wow, is she gorgeous-" 

"I know," laughed Ron, "I saw her on the way here! Hottest girl I've ever seen!" 

"For your information, lover-boys," cut in Hermione "her name is Callista... um... something, and she's from the United States as an exchange student. Professor McGonagall called me to tell me that I might want to show her around or something. She also owled Lavender and-" 

"And her eyes!" continued Ron, ignoring Hermione to aggravate her. 

"I know!" said Harry. 

"You two are useless and immature," snapped Hermione, and she snatched up her books and headed for the next store, Ron and Harry following, chuckling. 

But the three of them soon forgot about the new girl as they strolled around, buying their new school supplies and listening to Hermione tell about her summer at the Krum's (though she wouldn't even give a hint as to its whereabouts). 

"So, I suppose he proposed, did he?" joked Ron. 

"Why, you-" began Hermione, but Ron continued with:

"So, do I get to be best man? Or does Harry? Take your pick... or should Harry be the made of honor, he'd look lovely in a frilly pink dress, wouldn't you say?" 

Harry winced, waiting for Hermione to start blowing up, but she just laughed. "If I _was_ going to have a wedding, believe me, Ginny would be the Maid of Honor, and you two could be the janitors. Sound good enough?" _Perhaps,_ thought Harry, _she has finally gotten over her rage on this subject and Ron will stop bugging her about it. _They headed into the next shop. 

"I wonder who the next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be this year?" said Ron as they paid for the supplies the teacher had asked for- shiny new vampire stakes (and they came in several different fluorescent colors as well!), The Guidebook to Medolocris and other rare, dangerous magical conditions ("Wow!" exclaimed Hermione as she flipped through this, "There's a lot of diseases in here I've never heard of!")and other various objects having to do with Dark Arts. And then there were also books on the list that Harry didn't understand the purpose of, such as My Story- a Sale of Dark Magic by Frederick McGonagall (a new bestseller!) 

"I have no idea," said Harry in response to Ron's question about the teacher. "But he's asking for some random stuff!" 

"Oooooh," squealed Hermione at the sight of My Story- A Tale of Dark Magic. "A novel! I heard this is _really _good!"

"You mean to tell me," exclaimed Ron, "that there is a book in this whole world that you _haven't read?" _

"It's by Frederick McGonagall," continued Hermione, with a dangerous glance at Ron, "I wonder if he could be related to the Professor. But why haven't I heard of him? Before this book, that is." Ron and Harry shrugged and continued to fake stab each other with the plastic, multi-colored stakes, and, of course, faking horrible deaths. Hermione rolled her eyes and continued looking over her list of books, muttering,

"Wow, have I got a lot of catching up to do with this reading! A summer away really does put you way behind." 

And just at that moment, the new girl and her little sister walked by, giggling at the sight of Ron, clutching his supposedly bloodstained neck and making horrible choking noises as his limp hand dropped the hot pink stake. Harry nudged Ron with his foot to signal the approach of watching eyes. Ron straightened upright and became suddenly absorbed with one of Hermione's precious novels he snatched from her hand. Hermione leaned over irritably to Ron and whispered furiously,

"Hey, Ron, you sorta have the book _upside down!!" _Callista and Marie passed on and Hermione continued in an exasperated tone, "Jeez! Why do you two always have to embarrass me by acting like such idiots? I was hoping you would grow up a little over the summer!"

Ron snorted."Aww, come off it, Hermione.Just 'cuz you become a snob over that Krum guy,"and here he made little smoochy noises through puckered up lips, "doesn't mean we can't have a little fun!!"

"Oh, yeah?" laughed Hermione, and she pulled out her lime green vampire stick and held it with a playful threat at Ron."If you say anything, Harry, you'll get it too!"And the three of them laughed as they packed their books into their bags.

They did not encounter the girl or her family again that trip to Diagon Alley, much to the boys' dismay.(Hermione rolled her eyes when they mentioned it.)They finally met up with the Weasleys at 4 O'clock, and all headed to their house for supper, using Harry's _most_ un-favorite way, Floo Powder, as transportation.

Dinner that night was as entertaining as usual.Fred and George kept poking fun at Percy, who looked more worn out than the year before.Ron explained that this was because Mr. Crouch was still 'missing', for Fudge, for some stupid reason, still refused to believe what had happened, and Percy was forced to work harder than ever before. And so the family's conversation turned toward the subject of Voldemort's return. 

"Why won't he Fudge acknowledge it?" said an outraged Mrs. Weasley. "I mean, please, he saw what You-Know-Who did to Harry! He heard his story! Would Dumbledore lie?" 

"Yeah," agreed Ginny. "Haven't the papers reporting the Sightings of You-Know-Who shown enough proof?" And she sighed. "I just don't get it." 

"Well," explained Mr. Weasley, "Mr. Fudge is a very proud man-"

"In other words," Ron interrupted, "He's an idiot who is too embarrassed by his crummy leadership to lower raise himself to deal with someone who is WAY above his power level." 

"Oh," said Ginny, apparently satisfied. 

"Ron-" started Mrs. Weasley, but instead joined the others in laughing. 

"I looove this dinner, by the way, Mum," said Fred. 

"Oh?" said Mrs. Weasley, uncertainly. 

"Um, yeah, Mum!" exclaimed George, meeting Fred's eye, "Just _delicious_."

"Alright, what are you two up to?" asked Mrs. Weasley. 

"Oh, Mother, I'm hurt! Just because I gave you a compliment doesn't mean we're 'up to something'!"

"Oh come now, is there something you'd like to tell us, dear?" 

"I'm offended by your accusations," declared George. "It's just that we liked your dinner, though I'm not sure I do _anymore!_" And he pushed his plate away and stood up, Fred following his example. 

"Oh, may we please be excused," grunted Fred.

"Fine," said Mrs. Weasley, and they started for the stairs."But NOT before you clear your plates."The twins simultaneously turned and pointed their wands at the plates, which soared across the room.

"BOYS!"Mrs. Weasley yelled at the backs of the retreating twins, "No magic until tomorrow!"She sighed and turned back to the others.

The whole scene reminded Harry of the year before when he had visited them.

"W.W.W.," whispered Ron into Harry's ear. Harry nodded. It must mean Weasley's Wizards Wheezes, thought Harry, for last time he had been there that had been their project, and at the end of last year, Harry had given them some of his prize money won from the tournament to their store. Uh-oh, thought Harry, here goes another exciting year with the Weasley's...

** **

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	3. 9 3/4 Again...

Chapter 3

            The next morning was rushed, as usual, for everyone was thinking of last minute items to pack. Finally when everything was in order, they found they still had time for a good breakfast, so Mrs. Weasley made them all calm down enough to have a seat and let her serve the meal. 

            "I've have to get to work, Mum. May I take my breakfast with me?" asked Percy apologetically. Mrs. Weasley looked disappointed, but agreed, and as soon as she handed him his bacon and eggs in a little package she had conjured out of thin air, he called to everyone a quick good-bye and have a good year and disapperated. Mrs. Weasley turned on her husband, but he just shrugged and said, "Don' look at me, I'm staying for breakfast!" and sat down at the stable.

            When everyone had finished, except, of course, Fred, who was insisting that everyone wait at the table for him until he finished nibbling on his bacon (as slowly as he possibly could, by the looks of it), they all stood up and prepared to leave. 

            Mr. Weasley had hired some taxi cabs to drive them to the station, so they all piled in, had the driver help their luggage into the boot, and started for King's Cross. It was, of course, an entertaining yet somewhat painful ride, with Hedwig and Pigwidgeon hooting loudly at each other in the back, for one. Fred and George didn't help, for they were obviously just itching to break the rules and cast the 'operaleat' charm, their new-learned charm that makes the victim sing everything they try to say in a high-pitched opera voice, on the poor driver, who was cringing at everyone's noise and kept looking over his shoulder curiously at the cages with the two owls in it, shouting, "Would someone _please_ make them shut up?" 

            Eventually, they did reach the station, but not after Fred's old wand 'accidentally' fired of, creating a black, top-hat that hovered, upside-down, over the poor driver's head, with a squeaky voice from inside saying, "Pull the rabbit out of the hat! Pull out the bunny!" Fortunately, when that happened, they were in the parking lot of the station, so they wouldn't have to walk far after the driver yelped, and yelled for them to get out of his cab and that he was calling the cops. Mr. Weasley, frustrated, pulled out his wand and smoothly put the oblivion curse on the driver to make him forget it all. "Get out of the car, everyone." They walked to Platform 9 and 3/4, Mr. Weasley muttering "Disaster... no way we're doing that again...",  and they all hurried through the wall to the other side, where the Hogwarts Express was waiting. 

            "Well, good-bye," sniffed Mrs. Weasley, hugging first Fred and George, then Ginny and Hermione, then Ron, then Harry (as she whispered to him, "You watch out for yourself this year...please...just send us an owl if you need anything...") and finally through her arms around Mr. Weasley as all the children boarded onto the train and waved out the windows. 

            Although there were plenty of free compartments nearer to the front, Harry, Ron, and Hermione chose their customary one- the very back compartment. As the train pulled away, the two wizards and witch sighed happily. They were going to their favorite place once again. Just then the compartment door opened, and in walked the girl they had met at Diagon Alley. Her flaming red hair shone against her green tank-top, which would have matched her vivid green eyes, had they not been covered by a pair of shades. The little dash of freckles across her nose and cheeks made her look even cheerier. 

            "OH!" Harry gasped, for he had expected it to be Malfoy, of at least the lady who sold food up and down the train. 

            "Oh!" she said as well, "I'm sorry, I thought this one would be empty-"

            "No," said Hermione boldly, "that's okay, come in!" 

            "Thanks," said the girl, and pulled her bag to a seat, sat down, and smiled with the captivating smile which kept both Ron and Harry entranced until she spoke again. "Oh, hi again, um, Harry!" she greeted him. "It is Harry, right?" 

            "Yeah," Harry said, smiling back. "Good job. Hello...Calli?"

            "Yep."

            "This is Ron Weasley," Harry introduced, and she reached out to shake his hand, "and Hermione Granger." and she did the same for Hermione. 

            "Nice to meet you both," said she. "My name's Callista Alexander. "I'm in 5th year here. I'm an exchange student from the US." 

            "Oh!" said Ron, trying his best to sound surprised, even though he had already heard this information from Hermione, "Really? Where in the US?" 

            "Salem, Massachusetts," replied Callista. "It's really the only high-class magic city in the states anymore, ya know? Everywhere else has turned into such a tourist attraction and all. Everyone regards magic as some big-time joke." 

            "Yeah," said Hermione, "I just hope England doesn't become that way," then she added, "I mean, no offense, or anything." 

            "Non taken," she said, looking out the window, "England is so beautiful, I hope nothing happens to it either." 

            "Oh, you're going to love Hogwarts! It's a true castle, and I'm pretty sure you don't have any of those in America, right?"

            "No! WOW! this is gonna be so totally awesome!" exclaimed Callista. "A real castle for a _school?_ Sweet!" 

            And the four of them got to talking about Hogwarts, and Callista's school back home, Tithelpapon. 

            "So," said Harry, "How did you choose England? Have you been her before?" 

            "No, actually," replied Callista. "I really wanted to be an exchange student somewhere, and finally my father decided I was old enough, and that he had been offered a job in England, and would I like to travel there, at least for a year. So here I am!"

            "I thought I saw you with two others in Diagon Alley," said Hermione. 

            "Oh, yeah, that was my father, who I mentioned, and my little sis, Marie. She came too, naturally, since my dad moved here."

            "What about your mum?" asked Ron. 

            "Oh, she died."

            "I'm sorry!" said Harry. 

            "Oh, no, it happened when I was only 3, so it's no big deal." 

            Harry groped for another subject, seeing that this one was a little uncomfortable. "Er...I saw you sister looked a little...um...shy?"

            "Oh, yeah, she's really quiet. And kinda out-there, too, ya know? Like...oh, I forgot to tell you this Harry, Marie had the craziest idea that you were, like, some famous star or something...who was it that she said, again?...um...it was _really _funny..." Harry panicked. He had got this far without her discovering him, and he kind of liked it- no staring at his scar, no questioning, none of the common reaction that came from previous people. What would she think now? 

            "Ha, ha," he stammered, "Me, famous? Er..." With great relief, he suddenly heard something outside the door. "Wait, is that the lady with the cart I hear? There's this lady who brings around food, and I sure am hungry." 

            "Yeah, I'm hungry, too," said Callista, and the others agreed. But it was not the lady he had hear coming down the hall, for just then, unfortunately, Malfoy came strolling in, Crabbe and Goyle at his heels, as usual. 

            "Well, well, Potter," he said nastily. "You decided to come back, huh? Thought you'd be chicken, you know, with _you-know-who out to GET YOU!" _And he jumped toward Harry suddenly, obviously trying to scare him, and his side-kicks snorted stupidly. 

            "Yeah," shot Ron, "You would know wouldn't you, your dad was there." Malfoy threw Ron a threatening look. 

            "Why should I be scared, Malfoy?" Harry said coolly. "Who's the one here who can't even call _Voldemort _by his real name?" 

            Malfoy visibly shuddered at the name of Voldemort. "You watch it, Potter," hissed Malfoy, "He's really got it in for you..."

            "So, what's new?" Harry retorted. 

            "Yeah, well, I betcha this time won't just be another one where you slip away from Him. Everyone know he's back in full power. No little 15-year-old loser can drive him away this time." 

            "Thanks for sharing, Malfoy," snapped Hermione, and Malfoy, who had been so focused on Harry that he hadn't noticed Hermione, looked startled. His eyes glanced around the room and found Callista on the end, looking very confused. A complete transformation came over Malfoy, and he behaved as Harry had never seen him before. 

            "Oh, good morning!" He said so quickly they could barely make out his words, "I...uh....remember you! How's it going? Er...want something to eat?" He put a strange smile on his face, but it wasn't the harsh one that had always been there before, and Harry thought it didn't seem to fit him at all. 

            "No, thanks," said Callista boldly, "I think I've just lost my appetite." And she smiled the entrancing smile and looked from Harry to Malfoy, still obviously confused about something. 

            Malfoy's dumb smile faded from his lips as he said, "Sure, hanging with Potter here can do that to you." And, seeing her scowl, continued quickly, "But, really, you belong with us cool people up in the front compartments. It's actually fun up there."

            "Thanks for the invitation," she said kindly, but did not move. 

            "Yeah, well think about it." He put on the dumb smile and left, the googly-eyed Crabbe and Goyle followed, waving at Callista. 

            All at once, the compartment burst into peals of laughter. "Oooh, Calli, looks like you've got a group of admirers!" laughed Hermione. 

            "Yeah," snorted Ron, "if I didn't know Malfoy better, I might actually say he was in love!" 

            But Callista wasn't laughing. She looked in shock. "Wh...What did he call you, Harry?" 

            Harry's face straightened. "What, you mean like chicken? Loser? He's called me worse, don't worry."

            "No," she said. "Didn't he call you...Potter? Has he got your name wrong, or-" Harry lifted his bangs to reveal his scar. "Oh," she said, "My sister was right!" 

            "Yeah," said Harry. There was a long pause as it sunk in. 

            "Are you like...are you scared?"

            "Hm? 'Bout what?" 

            "Well, you know- Him. There's been sightings and all, so-" 

            "No. I'm used to it by now," he replied calmly. 

            "Oh," she murmured. "I thought you'd be more... more..." 

            "Flashy? Amazing? Out-of-this-world?" Harry suggested. 

            "No, I never thought-"

            "Arrogant," Hermione answered for her.

            "Well, yeah."

            "Harry?" laughed Ron, "Arrogant? No way. But you're gonna hear a lot of rumors like that, so you can just ignore them."

            "Okay.......wow." There was a moment of silence, broken finally by the lady with the cart entering the compartment. 

            "Oh, yum!" said Harry, jumping up, glad for a reason to get all the eyes in the room off him and his scar. They all scrambled to buy things. 

            "We've got some of this at home, too," she said, buying a chocolate frog and some cauldron cakes. 

            "Yeah, but do you have _these?" _asked Ron, holding up a jumbo-pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. 

            "Uh, no, I don't think so." 

            "They're great," said Harry and paid for the huge bag. "You can all share some of mine. 

            "Hey, thanks!" So they spent the best part of the train ride tasting beans (Callista had the unfortunate first-experience when she got a cooked-spinach flavored one right off), and throwing them at each other, and laughing, and just the sort of fun that Harry had missed all summer. Eventually Fred and George came in, flirted a bit with Callista, played an exciting round of Exploding Snap with them, and left as Neville Longbottom ran through the doors warning that the train was getting closer. They all went into separate train compartments to change into their robes. When the girls returned, clad in their new, bigger, black robes, they were both laughing. 

            "Look at these things! Ha, ha!" Callista giggled, shaking her black robes. Suddenly, a sudden inspiration seemed to come over her face, and she began twirling gracefully, her robes swirling around her. Hermione joined her. 

            "Well," said Ron, "The robes do look a little out of place on you-" 

            "With those shades!" Harry exclaimed, and he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her twirling, and snatched the sunglasses off her nose and put them on himself, grinning. This revealed Callista's awesome eyes- a dancing green, with a strange, piercing gold rim around the pupils. 

            "Hey, Harry, it's a good look on you!" said Ron. Callista was silent for a moment, then agreed, giggling. But Hermione said nothing: she was staring at Callista with wide eyes. 

            "Yo Hermione," called Harry, sliding the shades off slowly and handing them back to Calli, who put them back on cautiously. "Just having a bit of fun, I didn't mean to offend you or anything-" He moved towards her and she quickly shifted her gaze out the window. "You okay?" 

            "Oh! Um, yeah! Of course!" she said quickly. "Just seeing if we are any closer to Hogwarts! It's, um, getting darker out." Indeed it was. A whistle blew to signify their approach of Hogwarts, and they stuffed down the last of the Every-Flavored Beans and chocolate frogs, and got their bags ready to go as the train finally arrived at their beloved school. 

            "Wow," said Calli, staring out the window at the castle on the hill and looking dazed, "Wow..." 

            "I'm hungry! exclaimed Ron, rubbing his growling stomach. The others agreed, and the left the compartment together. 


	4. Introductions

Chapter 4

            "First years 'ere!" Harry heard Hagrid yelling. Ron and Harry darted towards their good friend, pushing through the masses of students, following the sound of his voice, for it was too dark out to see properly.

            "Harry! Ron!" Hagrid boomed, and hugged both of them close, almost suffocating them. "Good, ter see ya! You've grown! You'll be as tall as me soon!" which was certainly not true, as Hagrid was at least twice the size of the tallest muggle they knew. Hagrid squeezed Harry again, harder than ever before, whispering, "And you're alive! You're okay!" 

            "Of course I am, Hagrid," Harry assured him, and stood, back, noticing that there was something very different about Hagrid, though he couldn't really tell in the dark. Harry didn't have time to study him, though, for just then Hermione ran through the crowd, dragging Callista to introduce her to Hagrid as well. 

            "Hagrid, this is a new exchange student at our school from the US! Her name's Callista Alexander. Calli, this is Rubeus Hagrid." Hagrid smiled, then his eyes widened with astonishment. 

            "You are-" he said, "You are....Alexander..." He seemed to be trying to remember something from long ago. "Alexander...Ale-" 

            "Nice to meet you, Hagrid," said Callista uncomfortably. He snapped out of his phase. 

            "Oh, yeah, you too, of course!" And he grinned and patted her on her back so hard she practically flew into Harry. "Sorry," he muttered. Harry laughed. 

            "Let's go get a carriage!" he suggested. "See ya, Hagrid."  They all moved toward the line of carriages that seemed to be held up by invisible horses of some kind. 

            "Cool!" Harry heard Callista whisper as they climbed into one and took off slowly toward the castle. 

            "It's kinda weird in here without hearing rain beating on the roof," laughed Ron. 

            "Yeah," agreed Hermione, "For once it's actually be fairly nice whether, if not a bit dark, for crossing the lake in all those little boats."

            "I wonder where Marie is," Callista said, gazing out the window. 

            "Probably making some new friends," comforted Hermione. 

            "Hope they're not Slytherin friends," put in Ron. 

            "Slytherin? Is that some English adjective or something?" The others laughed, and they chatted a while about the different Hogwarts houses, then felt the carriage stop in front of the towering castle. They got out and followed the quickly gathering group of people to get inside, with Calli ooh-ing and ah-ing over every little detail of the castle, even Peeves, who flew by yelling, "Got your konk!" and grabbed her nose. 

            She loved the ceiling of the great hall, and even Ron, Hermione, and Harry, who were quite used to it, stood in awe and wonder of the cast sky and twinkling stars. They all sat down at their table, except for Callista who dashed off to find Professor McGonagall (The only staff member of Hogwarts she had met before her arrival at the school) to ask if she, too would be participating in the sorting of the houses. 

            "Boy, is she something!" sighed Ron happily. 

            "Certainly," said Hermione. Harry's curiosity overcame him. 

            "Hey, Hermione, what was with that...what happened on the train? Are you feeling okay? I mean-" 

            "Oh, um, of course, I'll...uh...tell you later," she stammered, waving to Callista who came rushing back to their table beaming. 

            "She says I can be part of Griff-e-dont, because I've made new friends in that house, and she thinks I seem like that kind of a girl! Yay!" 

            "Gryffindor," Hermione corrected, "and congratulations! That's great!" 

            "Yeah, I know....hey, I wonder where Marie is gonna be- she's a second year, so I don't think she'll be sorted, either. Maybe she can be in Gryffindor..." And she left to see where her sister was. The others turned their attention towards Dumbledore, the wonderful school headmaster. Instantly, Harry noticed that he looked very stressed and somehow more tired than he had ever on the first day of school before. But he looked excited! 

            "Welcome, welcome, boys and girls, wizards and witches! Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts!" There was wild applause. "A lot of things are going to be changing this year. But don't worry," he said hurriedly to the frowning faces looking up at him, "Good changes." He smiled. "First, I wanted to let you all know that the security on the school will be...er...a bit tighter this year. For safety reasons." And he put a huge smile on his face and continued, "I am very proud to announce the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher! Everyone... Professor Henrietta Marchbanks!" Harry glanced, through the great applause, toward the staff table for the first time that night, where she had stood up to be introduced. Professor Marchbanks was certainly unlike any D.A.T.D.A. teacher that Harry had ever met. First of all, she was female. She was certainly not shy-looking like Quirrel had been. Although she was good-looking, as Lockhart had been, she did not look the arrogant-type. She seemed very friendly, like Lupin, though not wearing ragged robes, and Harry doubted very much that she was a were-wolf. And she was incomparably more welcoming-looking then than Moody had been. She was young, Harry would guess in her mid-twenties, and attractive, with chin-length blond hair and a slender figure. She had big, vivid blue eyes, so that Harry could see them all the way from the Gryffindor table. Harry suddenly had a very strange sensation that he knew her from somewhere...her name...and even the way she looked seemed somewhat familiar. He ignored the thoughts and continued clapping and cheering with everyone else. Now that Harry saw the staff-table, he also noticed that Professor Marchbanks wasn't the only change to it. Harry noticed that in Professor Snape's place, there was a big, fat, mean looking woman. Dumbledore now brought this up. "I also have the pleasure of introducing Mrs. Everett, the temporary Potions Master, as our dear Professor Snape ins away on business." Harry, Hermione, and Ron exchanged glances. They knew that Snape was off, doing something for Dumbledore that involved the Dark Lord...oh, well, Harry thought guiltily, at least he should be happy for the new potions teacher, at least for a while, that was... though she looked almost as grumpy as Snape. Harry sat, lost in thought, and hardly noticed the little 1st years line up and be sorted. However, he did notice that there were more kids sorted into Slytherin than any other house. 

            "Evil," muttered Ron into Harry's ear. "What's this world coming to?" But Harry barely heard. He was studying the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, puzzling over where he had seen her face before. 

            It worried him all evening during the feast until he went upstairs for bed. Then he realized that she was in the article about Voldemort...she was the one who had sighted Him, the one who the innkeeper had told him about... 

            Satisfied, he crawled into bed and picked up a book. Half-hour later his light was off and his mind drifting. Then, just as he began to drift into a deep sleep (to Neville's familiar and somehow comforting snores), he realized that there had been no picture included with the article about Henrietta Marchbanks. 


	5. Sick Puppies

Chapter 5

            He awoke slowly and leisurely the next morning, basking in the comfort of being back where he felt he truly belonged. He climbed out of bed and began and began to get ready to go down to breakfast. 

            "So," said Ron from behind him, startling Harry. 

            "Oh, g'morning." 

            "So, I can't wait to see Hagrid," continued Ron, getting out of bed, too. "Something's changed about him...I couldn't really see in the dark." 

            "I noticed it, too. So how come _he's _back and Snape's not?" 

            "They've got a different job, I guess. But it's kinda scaring me. I mean, I REALLY hate to admit it, but... I hope Snape's okay, ya know?" 

            "Yeah. I guess I wouldn't wish Voldemort's wrath on anyone." 

            "Even Snape? It's that bad?" joked Ron. They had reached the Fat Lady's portrait/ door ut of the commons, and headed down the breakfast. "I wonder if she's gonna sit with us today?" said Ron quietly. 

            "What? Who?" said Harry distractedly. 

            "Calli." 

            "Oh...her... what was with Hermione yesterday? I mean, all I did was steal Calli's glasses. You don't think she's mad at me... do you?" 

            "No, it wasn't you. I didn't get that either." They had reached the Great Hall, which was fairly empty, and walked over to the Gryffindor table. There they found Hermione, looking extremely tired, shoveling in food. "Oh, great," said Ron, sitting down next to her. "Spew again?" Hermione laughed. "No, just have to read up on one little thing. Neither of you happen to have your Medolcris and Other Rare Magical Conditions book with you, do you? 

            "Sorry-" Ron began, but Harry pulled his out of his bag and handed it to Hermione. 

            "Thanks," she said. 

            "Wait!" exclaimed Harry suddenly, and tried to snatch it back. "If you're just gonna use it to, you know.... secretively read all during breakfast-" 

            "No, no," said Hermione, pulling it back, "Just this once." 

            "Only-" said Ron, catching Harry's eye, "if you promise to tell us what you're up to." 

            "Oh, come on, you guys," laughed Hermione, "You'll find out, I promise." 

            "Yeah, yeah, that's what you always say."

            "I'm not even sure about it yet, so what's the point of telling you something that's not even true?" 

            "Then what's the point of keeping it a secret?" retorted Ron. Hermione ignored him and opened up the book to the table of contents and scanned it. 

            "Harry! Look, you're in here!" Hermione said, beginning to smile mischievously. "Parseltounge- A dangerous gift, page 351." She flipped pages and read the beginning of the section out loud. "The bearers of the gift of Parseltounge are..." she glanced at Harry, "...dangerous but very cute. They seem to like beautiful red-haired, green-eyed girls, and seem to be in the habit of getting into trouble and breaking rules..." 

            "Hey, Hermione!" laughed Harry. 

            "She's coming!" hissed Ron as Callista walked into the entrance hall with what seemed to be a little clan of sidekicks, like Parvati, Lavender, and some girls not even from Gryffindor. And of course there were the boys- every one googly-eyed and curious. "Popular already, huh, Hermione?" 

            "Yeah, you should have seen in our room last night- no one could stop talking about her, and it wasn't until she actually started a conversation that anyone but me would talk to her. It was so annoying." Callista spotted Hermione, Ron, and Harry, and hurried over, waving good-bye to her little entourage, and followed by a lot of stares in her direction, especially from the Slytherin table where Malfoy was practically cracking his sour face with his dumb smile. Harry nudged Ron and pointed in Malfoy's direction. The two of them sniggered. 

            "What's so funny?" asked Calli, reaching their table and sitting down next to Harry. 

            "Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. The pale, blond-haired idiot on the train. He's staring at you like...like a puppy dog!" Ron explained. The four of them sniggered again and joked about Malfoy for a while, referring to  Calli as "behold, the famous puppy-dog charmer!" Suddenly, Ron did a little jump in his seat. "OWLS are this year! Agh! The teachers are gonna pile on the homework!!!" 

            "Well, duh! I'm surprised you just remembered that! If I wasn't at Victor's, I would've been studying all summer!" Hermione exclaimed. 

            "What are-" began Calli, but Harry explained. 

            "Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Big exams toward the end of this year. Our teachers 'prepare' us with tons of homework." 

            "Joy. That should be fun," commented Calli sarcastically. 

            "Oh, yeah," agreed Ron. Just then, Pansy Parkinson and some other Slytherin girls started waving to  Callista. 

            "Oh, you're actually getting along with Pansy?" said Hermione. 

            "Yep, they're not too bad. Why not make a lot of new friends, huh? I'd like to be on good terms with everyone." 

            "That's always good," agreed Harry.

            "He, of course," said Ron, gesturing to Harry, "doesn't know much about that." Harry swatted Ron playfully. 

            "Besides, they put my sis in Slytherin too. Who knows why. Hey, you guys don't mind if-" Callista pointed her thumb behind her at the Slytherins who were now calling her over. 

            "Oh, no, go ahead," said Hermione through a mouthful of cereal. 

            "Thanks," said Calli, waving, "See ya guys 1st period!" She went over and sat with Pansy for a while. 

            "Looks like she's made a lot of friends, huh?" 

            "Yeah, I'm happy for her!" agreed Hermione, with what Harry thought might be the slightest hint of jealousy. 

            "She's a really cool girl," sighed Ron dreamily, accidentally draping his sleeve through his porridge. Hermione rolled her eyes, handed Ron a napkin, and pulled out her schedule. 

            "Wadda we have first period?" asked Ron, looking over her shoulder. 

         "Um, Transfiguration with McGonagall, of course. Next, Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, like usual. Next I have Arithmancy while you two weirdoes still insist on taking your favorite, Divination," (At this, Harry and Ron both groaned) "Then after lunch is Care Of Magical Creatures," All three of them now groaned at this. 

               "We better have something better than the skrewts this year, not even kidding," said Ron. 

            "I think we all agree on that one, Ron," said Harry. 

            "Yeah," continued Hermione, "Well after this we have... what the heck?" 

            "What?" said Harry and Ron in unison, and both tried to grab the schedule from Hermione. She snatched it back. 

            "It says.... T.B.A. To Be Announced, in other words." 

            "Weird," commented Harry, and he and Ron both pulled their own schedules from their bags. "Mine says that too," said Harry. 

            "Mine too," noticed Ron. "Hm, I wonder what that's supposed to mean." 

                        "Guess it will be announced at lunch," said Hermione. "Next is History of Magic, with Professor Binns, no surprise there, and then my personal favorite, Potions with my favorite people the Slytherins, and Mrs. Everett. And last: Defense Against the Dark Arts. With Professor Marchbanks! She looks cool." They all started for the Gryffindor Tower to get their books, Hermione and Ron chatting with Callista, who had joined them because she was leaving the hall at the same time, and Harry deep in thought. He noticed that Callista kept glancing at him, and it made him wonder. What was she really doing here? They had never had an exchange student before, and wasn't it kinda weird that her father had been offered a job here too? And what was her father's job? He stopped these thoughts, realizing he was being ridiculous, and instead set his brain on how he recognized, if even just faintly, Ms. Marchbanks's face if he had never met her before and there was no picture included with the article? They finally reached the tower, gathered their books, and started toward the common room to leave, when Professor McGonagall entered and stood with her back to the door, blocking their exit. 

            "Everyone, please," she spoke loudly, "Remain in this room for a moment. All Gryffindors here, please! We need to have a little meeting." Then to the three of them, "Weasley, Potter, you two run up to all the boys' dorms and get them all down here. Hermione, same with the girls'." 

            Once everyone had gathered in the room, the Professor began. 

            "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a few announcements before you head out this morning. First of all, I'd like to give a warm welcome to all our new first year students here, and also Callista Alexander, the new 5th-year student from America. I expect all of you to welcome them as well, and show them to their classes and all. Next, I hope you all will respect and welcome the new teachers this year, Professor Everett, Professor Snape's temporary replacement, and Professor Marchbanks, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." 

            "Hey, you guys!" whispered Harry, suddenly remembering. "I know where I knew her from! She was the first one to sight Voldemort!" 

            Ron flinched at the name, but muttered, "After you, that is." 

            "Right!" The three of them exchanged glances. 

            "Weasley and Potter, I would thank you to SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!!" snapped Professor McGonagall. They both muttered apologies, and she went on. "And now, on a more serious note, I want you all to recognize that we are going to have, well, tighter security on the school this year, as Dumbledore mentioned at the feast last night. This means that the Prefects and other appointed aids will escort you all from class to class. This is for safety reasons, as there are rumors going around...well, I'm sure you've all heard them. Anyway, this also means that the schedules you received for today will be fixed schedules: they will be the same everyday. At least for the first quarter. I'm sorry if this is not what you expected-" she said in response to a few groans, "-but believe me, please, it's necessary. Now, you may have realized that on your schedules, there is a period that is marked To Be Announced. This means that, well, some of the staff in our school feel it necessary to incorporate some different themes into our school this year. So today for those of you with TBA written on your schedules, you will meet in the _____________ which has been turned into a gymnasium- type thing with Madame Hooch teaching you PE For those of you who aren't familiar with muggle phrases, this means Physical Education. You will be learning different sports in this class every Monday. Tomorrow shall be different, and it will be announced at breakfast. Any questions?" There were none. The room seemed in shock of the new system. "Then I shall be announce who will be escorting you to your classes. 1st years, you shall go with Ms. Berton..." and she announced every grade's escort. The 5th years were to go with her for now, as they had Transfiguration first anyway. They started off, feeling very strange as they ran into other groups of people walking through the hall as well with an escort. It reminded Harry of his 3rd year, when the security had been tighter because of Sirius Black. Now it was Voldemort they were dealing with, and even though it had always been rumored that Voldemort would stay away from Hogwarts because of Dumbledore, Harry knew that the security would be tightest around Harry himself, and he didn't like the prospect very much, though he appreciated it more than he had two years ago. 


	6. Palm Readings

Chapter 6

            Transfiguration that day was as usual, same with Herbology, out in the greenhouses, with an introduction to Bertelates, banana-shaped plant that squirted some greenish liquid to heal toe fungus. Then Hermione broke off to go to Arithmancy while Harry, Ron, and Callista climbed the towers to Divination Class. 

            Professor Trelawny was as strange as usual, but Calli was fascinated by her. "Look at this place!" she gasped, "It's amazing!" She loved the fire, Professor Trelawny's glasses, even the stuffiness of the room, it seemed. Lavender and Parvati dragged her over to their table to join the, as Ron put it, "We love Divination Fan Club". They all took their seats as the professor explained that they were going to start with palm-reading this year. 

            "First," she said, after handing out sheets with different marks, lines, and shapes of the hand marked out on it and what they meant, "I need an assistant to be my example." She quickly glanced past Parvati's and Lavender's frantically waving hands and straight towards Harry, who had no intention of even lifting his arm to volunteer, yet was not surprised when she said, "Harry, please come up here." Harry sighed and went to the front. "Now," she began, "I'm going to examine his hand and by looking at the lines, I will be able to tell things about his future...and his past." She grabbed Harry's hand dramatically, and after only about a split-second of looking, suddenly screamed, "Oh, my! Your lifeline is _very _short! Oh dear, it just- cuts off suddenly!!" 

            "Yeah, that's a surprise," said Harry with sarcastic enthusiasm, "See, because no one's _ever _told me I was gonna die before! I mean, it's not like I didn't see the 'grim' two years ago, and last year you didn't tell me or anything that I might be having a near-fatal accident any time soon! You might have warned me! ...Does my line-life or whatever actually tell _when it's going to happen??" _The greater part of the class got a good chuckle out of that. 

            "Not funny, Potter," Professor Trelawny hissed. "You talk about death as if it was okay with you...as if it's something that one experiences every day!" 

            "Well, if I died as many times as you predicted, yeah, that'd be about accurate." 

            "Voldemort's out to get you, Potter, whether you like it or not!" She had lowered her voice even more so that only Harry could hear. "He's back in full power. You can smart-mouth me all you want, but that won't change the facts." And she grabbed his hand back. _A great start to the year with her, _thought Harry. 

            She then went on to read a very smooth, long 'love-line', to which someone in the class whistled, and then on his 'road of life' line she read a very traumatic experience in his past, and several recently, "And _more to come_ _in your near future._" She said dramatically. 

            "Oh, well, that's surprising," muttered Harry, and started toward his seat. 

            "Thank you for demonstrating, Harry. Class, please find a partner and read each other's palms." 

            As Harry passed Callista's table on the way back to his, she commented, "Wow, is this class such a soap-opera every day?" 

            "Soap....what?" asked Harry. 

            "Never mind," she said, laughing, and leaned forward to Harry so Parvati and Lavender couldn't hear, "Just a teeny over-eccentric, wouldn't you say? Or is she only like this on the first day to scare her students away?" 

            "Oh, no," he whispered back, chuckling. "She's just like that to me. And she gets worse as time goes on- just wait." He returned to his seat next to Ron. 

            "Well," said Ron when he returned, "It gets more and more painful just watching!" 

            "Oh, why didn't we just quit this class?"

            "You gotta admit, it's a bit entertaining sometimes." 

            "Only sometimes. That was just plain annoying." 

            "Anyway, I already know you're gonna die..._sometime in the near future!!_ So why don't you examine my palm?" 

            Harry did a perfect imitation of Professor Trelawny- pulling Ron's hand toward him dramatically and gasping. "Oooh, see how long your life-line is!" He exclaimed, tracing Ron's "life-line" around Ron's hand several times instead of straight across once like it was. "You will live to be approximately...Seven thousand, Eight hundred and Fifty-four years old. And you will marry-" he continued, now tracing Ron's love-line, "43 times. Obviously because none of your wives can live you out, you old geezer! Now, for your profession..." He expertly counted the tiny lines on Ron's knuckles and 'converting' them to letters, "...You will take Filch's place as...shall we call it...Master of Custodial Arts among the University of Hogwarts School for the Incredibly Talented and Gifted Magical Folk." 

            At lunch, Hermione was back to scanning her book she had borrowed from Harry at breakfast, but she wasn't so busy that she couldn't brag to them about how interesting Arithmancy had been. Callista did not sit with them, she went to sit with Parvati and Lavender, but she waved as she passed and told them how much she had enjoyed Divination, and she gave a little wink at Harry. They all dug into their Shepherd's Pie. 

            "So," said Harry, "We got through the normal half of the day." 

            "Yep," agreed Hermione, "And next we have all the exciting yet slightly intimidating classes, starting with Care of Magical Creatures, with Who- Knows- What quote-quote animals we'll have this year." She smiled and waved up at the staff table, and Hagrid waved back. The three of them loved Hagrid, but really weren't looking forward to another year of possible blast-ended-skrewt-typed creatures. 

            "And after that," continued Harry, "Is Physical Education." He shuddered. "We had that back at the old muggle school, and our teacher would send us out to the track to work on our jogging, but instead of jogging it became more of a Who-Of-Dudley's-Friends-Can- 'Accidentally'- Run-In-To-And-Knock-Over-Harry time. This better be different." The others smiled. 

            "And after Physical Whatever," went on Ron, "We are fortunate enough to get to enjoy History of Magic. That never really changes, does it?" 

            Hermione grinned and said, "Oh, but what comes _next_ is even _better!_ Potions!" And now all three of them shuddered, each hoping that Mrs. Everett would have much different thoughts of the Slytherins than Snape had. 

            "And last," said Harry, "comes Defense Against The Dark Arts... with Professor Marchbanks..." There was a silence for a moment, than Harry continued, "I wonder what she knows about-" He stopped himself from saying 'Voldemort' and instead said, "-about Defense Against the Dark Arts." 

            "Yeah," agreed Hermione, noticing Harry's quick avoidance of the other subject and trying to make him comfortable, "She doesn't look old enough to have much...experience." 

            Ron, who had not caught that Harry had purposely not mentioned Voldemort, said, "Well, like Harry said, wasn't she the one who first sighted You-Know-Who?" More silence. 

            Harry finally nodded. "I don't know, you guys... I've been thinking about it, and He just wouldn't have let himself be seen, you know? Why did He...why was it _her_ that saw...where...?" He cut off, and Hermione offered,

            "If you don't want to ask her about it, I have no problem maybe mentioning-"

            "No," said Harry hurriedly, "It's not that, I'm okay with talking to her, except that, well, she looks really familiar for some reason. Either of you think so?" They both shook their heads slowly. "Hm, must've seen her before at Hogsmeade or something...or maybe a long time ago." 

            "Well," said Ron, "We'd better be on our way, then, if we want to visit Hagrid a bit early and find out how his summer's been." He grinned. They headed towards the doors to leave for Hagrid's, but Madame Hooch sat in a small chair set at the double doors, apparently patrolling. She stood up when she saw them approach. 

            "And where do you think you're going? Sneaking out, hm?" She smiled. 

            "Uh, no," replied Harry, "We were actually just heading down to our next class, Care of Magical Creatures." 

            "Yes, well, you'll need an escort, and class doesn't start for about half-an-hour anyway." 

            "Oh, but we wanted to go see Hagrid early!" cried Hermione. Madame Hooch looked around to make sure no one was looking, and then whispered, 

            "It's really not safe, you know, but.... if you promise not to tell anyone, I might just be your escort-" 

            "Not a soul!" promised Ron, and the others nodded hastily. 

            "Well then, let's hurry!" And they followed her out to Hagrid's cabin. And left them at the front door with a wink. They knocked, and Hagrid opened the door and grinned.  

            "'Arry! Ron! 'Ermione! Wadda ya doin' 'ere, 'n' without an escort?" They nodded toward Madame Hooch who was quickly making her way back toward the castle. Then they continued staring at him, for now, in broad daylight, Harry was able to recognize the change he had noticed the night before- Hagrid looked completely different! His hair, instead of falling in a great mass, was cut jaggedly, as if the scissors had a hard time working in his course hair, all the way up to around his chin! His beard was much shorter and a bit jagged as well, as if he had tried to shave it but it grew back, and his face and clothes seemed clean. 

            "Oh, Hagrid!" said Hermione, startled. 

            "Hm?" 

            "It looks...wonderful!" 

            "Oh, you mean my 'air 'n' beard? I 'ad to do that, over the summer with my job 'n' all," he said, as if he would certainly have not done it otherwise, but thought it was a little nice. 

            "Wow," said Ron, "It's a big ch- ... what job?" 

            "Er..." said Hagrid uncertainly, "You know, the one Dumbledore asked me to do." He sounded proud at this, and Harry felt good about that. 

            "And..." Harry began, trying not to prod too much, "... did it go well?" 

            "Oh, yeah, awfully well, they all seemed to-" And he stopped dead. "Now just what are ya tryin' to make me say, eh? I ain't telling you nothing! Now come in 'ere and 'ave some tea." 


	7. Physical Education??

                                                            Chapter 7                    

            They went inside, Harry, Ron, and Hermione making eye-contact, and Hagrid looking some-what flustered. They sat around Hagrid's table and Hagrid set out tea and his famous stone-hard tea-cakes. Hermione was the only one feeling polite enough to reach out and nibble on one. 

            "So, 'ow 'ave ya bin lately, eh? 'Ave a good summer?" 

            "Oh, yes," said Hermione, "I went to Victor Krum's for a month to visit, and it was delightful." 

            "Yep, agreed Ron, "Mine was pretty good too, I did a lot of riding and practicing for Quidditch." 

            "Uh," said Harry, "Mine was... you know... same-old, same-old. I can't remember how I survived living full-time with those people." He shuddered. "They started trying to talk me into bringing Dudley to Hogwarts, cause he got expelled." Hagrid laughed. "Well, how was yours, Hagrid?" 

            "Like I was sayin', it was good," he told them slowly, careful not to give anything away, "I got a lot done, an' it was pretty much successful. Er, 'ow's the family, Ron?" 

            "Well, Bill came and visited briefly, but he's been really busy with the banks... Charlie visited for a few weeks, and, oh, yeah, he said to say hi... Percy I saw practically less than Bill cuz he's been so busy lately, with-"

            "I know," interrupted Hagrid, "I 'eard about Crouch an' all. Argh, that Minister Fudge, he needs to get down to business, I 'ad to talk to 'im a few times this summer about the gi- about my job, and 'e just won' understand." The others nodded and looked at each other. Harry, and by the looks of it, Ron and Hermione, had caught Hagrid's quick retreat from the word 'giants'. What was going on? Had his job been something to do with the giants that...

            "Oh, I-" Harry burst out, then shut up, not wanting to give anything away. He hadn't told them about what Voldemort had said about the giants...they were enemies... 

            "What?" the others said. 

            "Oh, sorry, nothing," gasped Harry, trying to collect himself, "Just remembered, I forgot to, er, do something..." 

            "Anyway," continued Ron, looking at Harry strangely, "Percy's been busy, Mum and Dad are alright, and, oh, I forgot to tell you guys! Ginny-" And he started to laugh a little. 

            "What?" said Hermione, "What about her?" 

            "She-" More laughing, "She thinks she's gonna try out for the Quidditch team! Now that Wood's graduated, they need more players, and she wants to be one! She practiced all summer!" 

            "Why is that so funny?" said Hermione, frowning, "It think it's great! I'm excited for her, and you should supportive, Ron!" 

            "I am, I am, I trained her all summer," he laughed, "but, Hermione, have you ever seen Ginny _fly?_ It's hilarious!"

            "Oh?" said Harry, smiling, "Maybe I should check this out." 

            "Yeah," joked Ron, "I know why she's trying to join the team-"

            "I agree, Harry," cut in Hermione, ignoring Ron, "You should give her a few pointers or something. It'd mean a lot to her." 

            "Yeah," said Harry, thinking hard. Wood was gone! He had almost forgotten. Who would be team captain now? He hoped it would be Angelina Johnson, she was very good... That made him think suddenly of Cho Chang. He had forgotten about her too, but now he felt a thrill in his stomach... but his heart sank again as he remembered what he had tried to block from his mind all summer- Cedric. 

            "Well," said Hagrid, breaking the silence, "Class'll start any second, let's get outside, eh?" They all walked out into the sunlight, and Harry looked around. There was a group of kids coming down from the castle, led by Madame Hooch. He looked around some more for any signs of skrewts, but found none. 

            "So Hagrid," he said, "What's the animal this year?" 

            A proud smile crept over Hagrid's face that Harry thought could only mean trouble. "You'll 'ave to see!" he said simply, and hurried off to greet the kids. Hermione came over to Harry as Ron followed Hagrid. 

            "Harry, are you okay? What was that whole... oh, Hagrid's job-" 

            "Hermione, he's set out to talk to the giants! To try to turn them back to us! To be good!" 

            Hermione nodded. "I know. And Hagrid said he was pretty successful! You remember, back in the hospital room, when Fudge said it was crazy to try and do that, and that it would ruin his career-"

            "Oh, but it is, it is!" 

            "What do you mean?"

            "It's... Voldemort told me- told the Death Eaters- that they were allies with the giants, that they were natural allies with the Dementors, too-"

            "When... when did he say this?" 

            "When he came back to life! When I was tied to the stone, and-"

            "Harry, I don't know your story about that, you've never told me, and you don't have to or anything, but if you know something we need to know-" 

            "I just _did _tell you! Hermione, I think that's what Voldemort's been doing. He's been turning the giants against us-" Hermione shook her head. 

            "They already were against us. But Hagrid just said that it was successful- and besides, Voldemort wasn't seen anywhere near the mountains where they were banished. Look, we'll ask Hagrid, okay? No... no... we need to go see Dumbledore. Soon." The students had now reached the cabin, and Harry noticed there were considerably less Slytherins than there were the year before. Well, that was no surprise. 

            "Hey, Harry, Hermione!" They heard a familiar voice, an American voice. Harry turned around and saw Callista walking with Ron towards them. Harry waved and he and Hermione went to greet them. 

            "So, no screwts in sight!" said Ron happily. 

            "Yeah, but I see something that could be counted as one. Malfoy," groaned Harry. 

            "What?" said Hermione, "Why would he stay in this class after last year?" 

            "Oh, because-" said a sudden voice from behind them, and they turned around to see Malfoy grinning, "-because _I _know what we're doing this year, and it's gonna be great." 

            "Oh, do ya?" said Hagrid approaching them, obviously not happy to see Malfoy either. "And 'ow would ya be able to know that? I 'aven't told anyone." 

            "I have my ways," he muttered. 

            "Well, it's time for class, come on now, over to the edge of the forest." He went around gathering other students to bring them to the woods while they started toward it. 

            "You know what animal it's going to be, Draco?" asked Callista curiously. 

            "Uh, oh, yeah," stuttered Malfoy, obviously surprised to have her speak to him, especially calling him by his first name. He smiled. Harry was sure he'd throw up. "Yeah, it'd be perfect if we had a lot of little Potters running around. It'd be worse than the skrewts."

            "Ha, ha," said Harry, and started walking faster to get away from Malfoy. Why couldn't he have just joined another class? Ron and Hermione sped up with Harry, but Callista continued chatting for a moment, than ran ahead to meet them. 

            "You guys, why don't you give him a chance?" she said, "He's just kidding around, you know!" 

            "No, you don't know him well enough, Calli," laughed Harry. "He's not kidding, he's mean." Callista laughed too, and said,

            "Well, he's okay to me." 

            "Yeah, you're lucky. Or cursed. Either way," said Ron, grinning. They reached the forest's edge and stood waiting for the other students. Callista went off to talk to someone else, and the three of them looked around for any sign of an animal inside the forest. None. But they did see a strange new tiny structure nearby, and so walked over to it and stood by it. Harry felt very strange standing here. He could see a little way's off where, in his first year, he, Hagrid, Neville, Malfoy, and Hermione had been forced to go to detention inside the forest, and how he had met Voldemort in there... He remembered when in his second year he had entered here with Ron, following a little troup of tiny spiders. He thought about in his third year when they had journeyed here to go under the Whomping Willow and make their way to the Shrieking Shack. And he shuddered, remembering how it had been just a few yards away where the year before he had witnessed the last moments of Barty Crouch's life. 

            When Hagrid had finally gathered everyone around the shack, he began, "So, everyone, I've got a sort of a treat for ya this year. We're gonna study a variety of bird. It is slightly dangerous, and very expensive, so must NOT escape. So will everyone please step back a bit..."

            "A bird?" said Ron skeptically. "Dangerous?" 

            "Well, you know Hagrid," pointed out Hermione, "You can never be sure with him." They watched intently as Hagrid carefully unlocked the shack and pulled out (very slowly) another large wooden structure and rolled it out onto the grass. Harry realized it was a sort of a cart mixed with bird perches, and inside the three large nest-looking things set on top were three very large bird eggs, one hot pink, another lime green, and the third electric blue. All the students gasped, then a few giggled a bit at the eggs' strange colors. Hagrid announced proudly, "These, as you can see now, are Fwooper eggs. They are a rare breed of bird that usually comes in very bright colors-"

            "No, really?" said Malfoy sarcastically. Hagrid ignored him. 

            "And they will hatch to be the same color. We will be hatching them in 3 or 4 days, but for now we will study taking care of the eggs. Let me show you all how these heating systems work, first of all-"

            And for the rest of the day they practiced turning up the lamps underneath them to a certain hatching-temperature and taking notes on what will happen when they hatched. 

                "That was a really interesting class."  Commented Callista as they walked toward the Quidditch field for PE. 

            "It certainly was," agreed Hermione.

            "But for once, I almost enjoyed it!" put in Ron. They walked a while, Callista running ahead to catch up and chat with the Slytherin gang. Finally they reached the field and noticed Madam Hooch standing in the middle, trying to gather students toward the bleachers. 

            "This should be very interesting as well," said Harry, hoping they would get to practice Quidditch in this class as well as he had not even been on a broomstick since the Triwizard Cup the year before. But he was disappointed as all the students gathered around the stands only to hear Madam Hooch say, 

            "Everyone, this year we want you to get in shape. So run a few laps around the track -er- field and the first one back gets a… um… chocolate frog. So off you go!"

            Ron laughed and said, "Whatever she says. Getting in shape by running and eating candy? Works for me!" and he took off. Harry shrugged and jogged off after him, smiling at the puzzled look on Hermione's face. He knew this was not an idea she was used to. He caught up with Ron and they began their quick jog around the field. They sped up to pass Malfoy who had started before Harry and Ron and was trailed by Goyle and Crabbe, but they kept tripping over their shoelaces and Malfoy had to stop and catch his breath once in a while to put some more color back into his sickly pale face, so it was easy for Ron and Harry to speed by, laughing that they were in front and would be the ones collecting the candy hopefully. 

            Sure enough they finished first, and together, so they both got chocolate frogs, much to the anger of Malfoy and thugs. 

            "Good job, good job, class," smiled Madame Hooch as Parvati and Lavender finally made it around to the end of their walk. "And in the future, girls, you can jog, okay?" The two giggled, and Madam Hooch sighed and rolled her eyes before going on. "Anyway, great, um... well, we're going to be learning a muggle-sport, actually..." (Groans from the students) "No, no, it'll be fun, I'm sure. It's played similar to Quidditch, in a way, only on the ground. It's called soccer-" 

            "SOCCER!!!!!!!!!!!" cried ­Dean at this, grinning and jumping and punching his fists in the air, "YES!" 

            "Yeah, that's right, Dean, soccer... and we're sure you'll be fabulous at it. In fact, maybe you'd like to give us all a little lesson on it...?" she asked hopefully. 

            "Sure, yeah, wow!" he said, and jumped up beside her, grabbing a soccer ball from the bin behind her. Ok, here's the deal..." 

            The rest of the class time was spent listening to Dean give detailed instructions about his absolute favorite sport, and they were almost sorry when, as they were just getting ready to start practicing kicking balls back and forth among themselves, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and said, "Thank you, Dean, but class is over. See you all next week! Harry, please come here..." The other students started walking toward the castle, but Harry, Hermione, and Ron jogged over to the teacher. 

            "Yeah?"

            "Oh, Harry, um, that was certainly interesting, hm?" 

            "Very, Professor, good job." 

            She laughed and continued, "Well, I just thought you should know, there will be Quidditch practice after classes today. Or more like try-outs."

            "Wadda you mean?" 

            "Well, now that some of our old team's gone, we will be picking new players... and a new captain, Harry."

            "Oh, yeah, of course, Wood's gone!" said Harry, trying to look sad, and feeling slightly so, but feeling a sudden joy as well... a new team captain! And she had said it as if... as if maybe... could he make team captain? Did he _want_ to? He decided he'd think about that later, and said hurriedly, "Well, I guess I'll see you then. Good-bye!" and hurried off with Ron and Hermione for their next class. 

            "Wow, do you really think..." began Ron, but was cut off by Hermione:

            "Harry! Today! Ginny'll be trying out! I hope she makes it..."

            Ron scoffed. "Are you still thinking about that? Come on, Hermione, you know she won't make it-"

            "Well, she could, I guess-" Harry mumbled, surprising them. 

            "Really, Harry?" said Hermione. 

            "Sure, why not? But I've never really seen her play, so we'll have to see." 

            "Yeah, right," mumbled Ron. He looked at his watch and gasped "Oops! We're gonna be late for our favorite class...History of Magic! And they all started jogging toward the castle. __


	8. Datdaquid

Chapter 8

            History of Magic hadn't changed a bit, of course, and so through the whole class of Professor Binns blabbering on and on about Gnomes and their wars, Harry was thinking about the next class: Potions. And for once, he was almost looking forward to it. No Snape! But how much better was Mrs. Everett going to be? Once class let out, he found out. 

            "Class, please, SIT DOWN!" she yelled in a grumpy tone as all the students were running around and gossiping and chattering about the first day of school, "I don't know what Mr. Snape let you get away with, but you _certainly _do not have permission to be acting like _that_ in _my _class!! Now, for now you could sit where you like, but tomorrow you will have assigned seating-" 

            "ASSIGNED SEATING?" bellowed Ron, but shut up after a very nasty glare from the teacher. "Assigned seating?" he whispered again to Harry and Hermione. "Yeah right!" 

            "Now, sit down, and listen up. We're gonna start today with role-call, and if anyone had any idea that they could skip my class, well, they'll be changing it now." She picked up the list and began reading off names. When she got to Harry's name, she actually didn't do the regular reaction- the wide-eyes and staring at the scar. She was _worse. _"HARRY POTTER??" she burst out, sputtering all over the place, her face turning bright red. "What kind of a name is THAT?! Is that some kind of JOKE? Who make up this ATTENDANCE LIST??!! Alright, who was it??" Harry stood slowly and uncertainly, the rest of the class in dead silence. "Oh, so you're the culprit, huh? You made this fraud list?" 

            "No, Ma'am, I..."

            "No use in denying it boy, what a trick to play on a substitute on her first day!" 

            "No, Mrs. Everett, I.... I _am _Harry Potter." 

            There was a long silence as she looked him over doubtfully, then gasped, "Oh, dear God!" and fell backward into her chair, her eyes closed.

            For a long moment, everyone assuming she had fainted, they waited, Ron muttering,            "A little over-dramatic, wouldn't you say?" and Harry sat back down. Finally her eyes popped back open and she stood up as if nothing had happened and finished calling roll, leaving everyone in complete shock. When she was done she instructed everyone roughly on how to dissect the frogs in such a way as to leave the brains intact for the potion, and left them to do the work among themselves. 

            "Okay..." said Hermione, "That was weird." 

            "Yeah, but you have to admit, she _is_ an improvement from Snape," pointed out Ron, "She doesn't seem to despise Harry, but I'm not really sure what _that _was..." Harry laughed and said, 

            "You're right, that was the strangest reaction I've ever gotten, worse than Flitwick falling off his stack of books..." And they all laughed and got to work. 

            Roughly an hour later, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and the rest of the Potions class emerged from the dungeons, guided by Mrs. Everett. The lesson had actually been quite entertaining, now that Harry thought back on it. Throughout the whole class, Mrs. Everett would burst out yelling at the Slytherins for something or another. Harry often looked up to find Mrs. Everett staring at him, and he would quickly return to prodding the frog-brains out with the tip of his knife. Ron, Hermione, and Harry especially enjoyed when Malfoy spilled his cauldron full of assorted frog parts and Mrs. Everett practically exploded with rage. Now Mrs. Everett lead the Gryffindors to Defense Against the Dark Arts room, and dropped them off outside the classroom to escort the Slytherins to History of Magic. They poured into the room, scrambling for good seats. Harry, Hermione, and Ron occupied a few seats in the front row. Professor Marchbanks was sitting behind her desk in robes as blue as her sparkling eyes, and she smiled. Ron blushed, and Harry got that feeling... he _knew_ that smile, it was so familiar! His thoughts were interrupted as she began: 

            "Welcome, all. Thank you for taking your seats. As you know, I am Professor Henrietta Marchbanks, and I'm extremely pleased that I get to teach you all. I can't wait for a wonderful year with you all! Now, how shall I start? I'd first like to say that I have a slightly different way of teaching than some of your other teachers. You see, I know many wizards and witches from my former job, and there are many I would like to know, so I am going to be inviting guest speakers to come in every now and the to tell you about their experiences with the Dark Arts. You'll be required to take notes _and _write thank you letters at the end-" She grinned at their groans, "-but that's no big deal. We'll have fun. I have some _great_ speakers lined up! Oh, I forgot to take attendance, just a sec-" She searched through papers on her desk and pulled out the roll sheet. She began calling the names and didn't even pause when she came to Harry's name. _That's nice, _he thought, _What a relief from the last class! _

            "Now," she began again, "I would like to tell you a little about myself. I was born in Kent. I grew up there and went to school here at Hogwarts. Let me let you in on a little secret..." She leaned forward confidentially, and the whole class seemed to lean in as well to listen. "...Did you guys know that when I was at school here, Professor McGonagall and Snape and Binns and Flitwick and pretty much all your teachers taught even _then?_ They gotta be pretty old, huh?" she laughed. "I graduated when I was seventeen and then went to working with the Ministry of Magic, training to be an Auror. I'm taking a break from that to teach you. I'm 22, and I love to play Quidditch, and read. I also love cats, and I own quite a few of them. I don't prefer dogs much, but I like horses and unicorns. When I'm not playing Quidditch, reading, riding horses, or petting my cats, I'm eating chocolate and talking with my friends." She took a deep breath and continued, "Glad to have that done with. Now... let's all get out the books 'My Story, A Tale Of Dark Magic', and turn to the first chapter. Who would like to read out loud for us?" 

            The rest of the class was spent reading the intriguing and true novel out loud, and after Professor Marchbanks assigned Chapter 3 and 4 as homework, she dismissed the class. 

            "Oh, Mr. Potter, could I have a word with you?" she said as the class was leaving to wait out in the hall for their escort. Harry crossed over to her desk, thinking _Oh great, here it comes. I knew it was too good to be true when she called role and didn't even comment..._

            "Harry, hi," she said, standing up from her desk. "I was just wondering if... um... well, I just wanted to clear up with you because you might have read, you know, the newspaper about... well, this summer..."

            "Yeah, I know," said Harry awkwardly. 

            "Oh, alright, I just... well, I know you get this, like, a whole lot, but, well, now that I know how... how terrible it is... I... want you to know that Iknow understand a little of what you've been through, and if you ever need anything-"

            "Thanks," said Harry appreciatively. She had been right, he _did_ get that a lot, but she really understood, so it was different. It was like she was talking to him because she actually cared for him as a _person_ and not just the poor little orphan boy. 

            "Yeah, well, if you ever need anything." 

            "Cool, thanks! Er... you don't mind me asking... I mean, the paper didn't say anything about, well, _where, _or _why-_" 

            "I'm still a little confused myself, actually. I'm sure he is clever enough now not to let himself be seen, so I assume it was purposeful. Why? I have no idea. You see, Harry, like your former teacher, I work for the Ministry as an Auror. Well, I did, anyway, for 2 years. It was not a very eventful job at first, until we got the Sirius Black case... and still, I was not very interested until the World Cup's fiasco, and the disaster at the Triwizard Tournament. But after I got my sight of You-Know-Who, I was so frightened, I decided to take a break from being an Auror, and teach here. So here I am." 

            "But... where was it that you-" 

            "Harry!" called Hermione, sticking her head through the door, "You're not gonna have time to eat dinner! Come _on!"_

            Harry said good-bye to the Professor, and headed toward the Great Hall. 

            Dinner over, Harry hurried down to the Quidditch pitch, clutching his Firebolt, thinking hard, his stomach twisting nervously. What if he made Captain? Did he really want to? It'd be a lot of work, and maybe he should just leave it for the more advanced players. That's what he'd do. But the thing was, all the players were so good in their positions that if one of them became Captain, did that mean they had to be Keeper as well? Probably not. And another thing: Ginny. He had never seen her play, not even fly, since whenever he had stayed with the Weasleys, she had never joined in when they played together. So, was she good? Would it break her heart when she didn't make it... or would she actually be good enough? He had reached the pitch, and only the rest of the team and Madam Hooch were there, so he hopped onto the Firebolt and rose into the air. It felt fabulous. He hadn't realized how much he had missed the feeling until now. He did a few laps around the pitch, racing Fred and Katie. When more people started showing up, they returned to the ground and stood, looking people over. There was a crowd of people wanting to try out, maybe 14 or 15, even. Harry spotted Ginny chatting with a tall 6th year, clutching her Cleansweep 7 and looking very nervous. George indicated her and said, "I know she's my kid sister and all, but you know, she's not bad. I think she actually has a chance at Keeper." 

            "Why isn't Ron trying out?" Harry wondered to George and Fred. 

            "I don't know. I guess he just didn't think he was good enough. Maybe he just didn't want to risk having Ginny beat him for the spot." That made sense, Harry decided, but still, he felt bad that Ron's brothers and his best friend and now possibly even his sister were on the team. Wouldn't he feel, well, jealous or something on that line? 

            "Well, I think this is everyone who wanted to audition, so let's get to work, eh?" called Madame Hooch. "We'll start by naming the team Captain for this year. This Captain, chosen by me, will be confirming the appointment of the new member. So, without further ado, the new Team Captain for the Gryffindor team for this year is..." Oh please, thought Harry, I hope it's not me. I wanted to be it at first, but I'd rather someone older get the part-

            "Angelina Johnson!!!!!" There was a tremendous cheering, and Angelina gasped and looked absolutely thrilled. "Of course, this is only if you are willing to, as it is a very difficult and time-absorbing duty, but much appreciated."

            "I'd love to do it!" said Angelina, and Harry could tell she really meant it. He was very glad she got it, as he respected her and trusted her and knew she'd be a great leader. He jogged over to congratulate her as Madame Hooch continued: 

            "Alright, now, I'd like the whole team to watch carefully as each of you-" she indicated the people waiting to try out, "-fly a lap around the stadium, first of all. We will do other exercises after." 

            One by one, each 'contestant' flew a lap around the field, and Harry had to admit, they were all pretty good. The tall 6th year was just finishing up, and Harry saw that Ginny was next. He braced himself. She got on her broom and very speedily and gracefully circled the stadium. She was surprisingly good, maybe not as good as some of the others he had seen so far, but after all, speed and such was not really what the position of Keeper was about...

            "Next," announced Madam Hooch, taking notes on her clipboard, "we will test each of you by having you try and block the goals while our own Chasers try to get a Quaffle past you, okay?" Again, each one tried. Some, who had been very good at the flying, missed every ball thrown at them, while others caught every one, though with some awkwardness. Harry watched carefully during Ginny's turn. Katie Bell flew over and tried to throw a few Quaffels past her, but she caught them nicely, each and every one. On her last shot, Katie tried a most difficult strategy of hurrying to one side of the posts to make Ginny fly over to that side as well to stop her from scoring, and then flying to the other side sharply and throwing, trying to get Ginny slightly confused to score. Harry could tell she was about to use this strategy, and braced himself for disappointment, but found none. Ginny caught it, a little awkwardly, but it was in her hands and not in the goal. Fred and George cheered wildly and slapped fives with Harry, who stood, stunned, staring at Ginny. She just might have a chance, he thought, no, she had more then a chance, she was sure to be called back, at least, once they narrowed it down. Once the last contestant had caught the last Quaffle, the team huddled and discussed. They narrowed it down to three contestants, the tall 6th year girl named Wanda Keleski, a bossy-looking but excellent 7th year boy name Joe Fondett, and Ginny. Madame Hooch broke the news to all the others, who were standing around impatiently. Harry watched as Ginny realized she was into the finals, and her face lit up like he had never seen it before. This was her chance for glory, he realized. He hope she'd make it. 

            The team challenged the three contestants once more, and in the end asked them to wait outside the locker rooms while Angelina and the rest of the team discussed. 

            "I vote for Joe," announced Katie Bell. "He's the best, in my opinion-" 

            "I don't know about that," argued Alicia Spinett, "Just cuz you have a crush on him doesn't mean you should pick him," she laughed. Katie turned red. "Besides, I think Wanda's performance wasn't bad-"

            "What about Ginny?" said Harry. They all turned to look at him. "Well, her Keeping was outstanding-" 

            "I agree!" said George and Fred together, and Angelina nodded. 

            "Hm..." she said, "Let's see. I think, although Joe was very good, he seems way too, you know, bossy about everything. And Wanda's flying was excellent, but her Keeping didn't even compare with Ginny's-"

            "Then your decision?" asked Harry hurriedly. There was silence as everyone watched Angelina intently. 

            "I'd have to say Ginny." 

            They had quite a party in the Gryffindor commons that evening. With the exception of the other contestants who had tried out, everyone was very pleased (and _very_ surprised!) with the selection of Ginny for Keeper. Fred and George strutted around holding trays of food, saying, "She's my sister, you know. Imagine, a whole lot of us Weasleys on the same team will be amazing. We'll wipe out those Slytherins..." Hermione was especially excited as well, she kept gasping, "Can you believe it? I knew she'd make it! I just knew it-" And of course, Ginny was thrilled. Harry had never seen her so happy (and surprised). When she wasn't being enveloped in hugs and slaps on the back, she was gazing Harry's way and grinning. 

            "Go talk to her!" urged Hermione. Harry finally trudged over and muttered, 

            "Well, welcome to the team!" 

            "Thanks, Harry!" she said, beaming. "This is really amazing. I'm so excited! When does training start?"

            Harry shrugged. "Not sure. Ask Angelina. Oh, and Ginny? If you ever have any questions or anything, please, feel free to ask me-"

            "Thanks!" 

            Harry waved and walked back over to Hermione, who said, "That was nice of you, Harry, that probably made her day one-hundred percent!" 

            "Um, right, where's Ron?" In all the excitement, Harry had almost forgotten about his best friend. His eyes searched over the room and rested on a tuft of red hair sticking up from the back a chair in front of the fireplace. "Er, be right back," he muttered to Hermione, and pushed through the crowd to the fireplace and sank into a chair next to Ron. "Hey, what's happening?" He asked him. Ron's face was very sad and sulky and his eyes looked glazed over and he was staring into the fire. 

            "Nothing, absolutely nothing," he said with a false confidence. "You might think I'd be upset about Ginny getting in, but the strange thing is, I'm not. I'm just... well... shocked." Harry nodded. 

            "Same here. But you're sure everything's cool?" 

            "Yeah," Ron assured Harry quickly. 

            "Well then," said Harry, "let's go over and get some food, eh?" Ron agreed and they both returned to Hermione and grabbed some cakes of a tray. 

            The party went long into the night, and by the time everyone was finally leaving for bed and Fred and George were shooting off their last Filbuster's Firecrackers, Harry expected Ginny's head would be about 20 times bigger, but it wasn't. She didn't seem to be gloating at all the next morning, though all the attention boosted her confidence just enough that she was able to stay strong when Malfoy came over at breakfast and commented, "So, I hear we've got another Weasley on the team? With the brooms you lot have, you'll be a push-over. It depresses me that Gryffindor couldn't find anymore talent than yet another Weasley, but, hey, not every team has such amazing players like me." And he strutted back over to the other table, making quite a fool of himself. 

            Harry wished Callista could've been there then to see how very _sweet_ Malfoy was, but unfortunately she was off sitting with some people from Hufflepuff today. "So," said Hermione, swallowing a bight of her Cauldron Cake, "I wonder what we have today in place of PE. Professor McGonagall said there would be something different every day of the week." 

            "Who knows," said Harry, "But yesterday was really fun. It was a change." 

            "Yeah, I liked it too," agreed Ron, "But if we have the same schedule every day for the whole term, that class might be the only thing that varies." They all thought about this for a moment, and decided that that was okay with them. They had enjoyed their first day immensely, and if the other days went as well, they'd be fine with the schedule. They ate in silence for a bit, Harry glancing around the hall and resting on the Hufflepuff table. He almost jumped when he realized that there was another pair of eyes staring at him from the table- and those eyes had a strange gold rim around the iris which he could see all the way from over at the Gryffindor table. Callista quickly looked away, and so did Harry. _What was she doing staring at me?_ he thought. _She acts so suspicious! Everyone else seems to love her, but why don't I trust her? _There was a strange feeling in his stomach every time those sharp eyes looked his way. For some reason, the thought of this made him lean across the table and whisper to Hermione, 

            "Hey, um, Hermione? Can I have my 'Medolocris' etc. book back?"

            "Oh, of course, sorry. Thanks for letting me use it!" she said, rummaging around in her bag and passing it across the table to him.

            "What _were_ you doing with it anyway?" he said, lowering his voice even further. 

            "None of your business," she replied coolly, then softened at his best puppy-face. "Fine, fine, but not here. Tell you after breakfast..."


	9. Medolocricts and Desirable Fashions

Chapter 9

            Once they finished eating, Harry and Hermione left the Great Hall early and headed to the Gryffindor Tower to get their books, leaving Ron behind to walk with Callista later. 

            When they reached the Common Room, they sat alone in two chairs and Harry waited for Hermione to speak. She didn't say anything for a moment, so he prodded: 

            "So, Hermione, you said you'd tell me-"

            "Um, Harry," she interrupted quickly, and Harry got a feeling she was trying to avoid it, "There's something _you _have to tell me first, okay?" 

            "Okay, I guess. Shoot," he said, wondering what she was trying to get at. 

            "Well, I know this is personal, but you have to tell me before I tell you... the new girl, Callista. Do you like her? I mean, as a friend and all. Cuz I know she's cool, and pretty, and very nice to _everyone_, and she seems to be a really good person over all. And the way she's nice, it's like... it's like she's not even the irritating kind of perfect that some people are, you know what I mean?"

            "Yeah, so she's perfect, what are you trying to say?"

            "I guess what I'm asking is... do you like her?" 

            "How could I not? Didn't you just list her every fabulous attribute?" 

            "But is there maybe just the _teeniest smidgen_ of you that feels, I don't know, just a little..."

            "Suspicious?" suggested Harry.

            "Well, yeah. I know that sounds absolutely terrible, especially after she's so nice to me, but-"

            "I feel the same way. She kind of creeps me out, you know, with her eyes and all-"

            "And doesn't it seem just a little bit weird that her father got a job here _and _she was accepted as an exchange-student? And there's never even been an exchange-student here before, right?" 

            "Yeah, I've been feeling the same way, but it makes me feel bad. Her family seems really nice and all, not to mention _her,"_

            "Anyway, thanks for admitting it, cuz I couldn't tell you this without making sure you're not totally in love with her like everyone else. You can't mention this to _anyone_, okay? Not even Ron."

            "Sure."

            "Well, when I first saw her eyes, with the weird little gold circles, I thought I had seen that somewhere before, in a book or something." 

            "Yeah?"

            "So I looked through some of our new textbooks for this year, but found nothing, then I thought about that Rare Magical Conditions book, and it turns out that those weird gold circles around her pupils are a condition of a Medolocrict." 

            "Medol-what?"

            "A shape-shifter." 

            Harry gasped. There was a small silence. 

            "But Harry, that does _not _mean she is one. In fact, I'm 100% sure she is not one. Really. First of all, if she was, Dumbledore would know, and not let her into the school, right?"

            "I don't know, he let Lupin when he knew he was a werewolf-"

            "It's _definitely_ not the same thing. Shape-shifters are the most dangerous creatures in the Wizarding World, Harry! You have no idea! You think werewolves are scary? A shape-shifter could become a werewolf in a matter of seconds. Same with any creature... or human. Shape-shifters are very rare now, possibly non-existent. But what makes me suspicious is that even though she's not a shape-shifter, she could easily be a descendant of one, and that means she does not have very good ancestors. See, a Shape-shifter is never a nice creature, even in their original shape. That's another condition of Shape-shifters, they're really nasty to other people. You could hardly accuse Calli of that, right?" 

            "Yeah. But it means she could be a descendant of... what?"

            "Well, I've been reading up on history of Shape-shifters, and their background is... not good. All of them have been murderers, all involved with Dark Arts, and natural allies with You-Know-Who. And so if any are caught, they are executed. They even imprison their immediate family if possible, because there's always the risk that they, too, are dangerous. Are you getting what I mean?" 

            "Um...."

            "Think, Harry. What has she told us about _any _of her family?"

            "Not much. Just that her sister Marie is in Slytherin, her father got a job here, she's an exchange student, and that her mother is... her mother is dead."

            "Since-?" said Hermione.

            "Since she was little."

            "Exactly," said Hermione pointedly. 

            "I think I might be catching on..." said Harry. "Wait, no, I'm not." 

            Hermione giggled for a second, then explained, "Harry, Harry. When Callista was a baby, her mother died. What was also going on at this time?" 

            "Voldemort had just disappeared, I guess, and all the Death Eaters were attempting to turn back to the good side so as not to be imprisoned or... executed. If Shape-shifters were allies with Voldemort... and Callista's mother was a Shape-shifter, she too would be executed." 

            "You finally got it. Congrats. Now it looks as if You-Know-Who's back, correct? There's tighter restrictions, more Aurors in action trying to catch people involved with the Dark Arts. If Callista's family, even though _they're_ innocent, think they might get in trouble for being related to her mother, they're gonna want to escape from wherever they could be located at so as not to get caught up with His return."

            "And so they came here!"

            "Right. But Harry, let's not get carried away, this is just an idea, that could probably not be possible-"

            "But it _is _a good point." 

            "Yeah."

            "Maybe we should mention it to someone,"

            "Maybe not.  I don't want to get Calli in trouble now, it wouldn't be her fault if her mother was a shape shifter.  We should help protect her, if we found out that this was indeed true.  Besides, Ron would freak out. He'd never get over it." 

            They both laughed, and cleared out of the room with their books before all the others would crowd the tower. They met Ron, Callista, and some others outside of the entrance. 

            "Hey, where'd you guys disappear to?" said Ron, "You missed the announcement of today's varying class."

            "Oh, what is it?" They asked curiously. 

            "Mmmmmmm...... I don't know if we should tell them, Callista, what do you think?" 

            "Hm. I don't know, Ron, maybe they shouldn't have _left _so early!"

            "Oh, come on, Calli-" yelped Hermione. Ron couldn't keep his cool much longer anyway:

            "Band. Band! Can you believe it? We're gonna like get together and play _instruments! _Muggle instruments!" 

            "Weird," said Harry and Hermione in unison. 

            "I know!" said Callista. "Come on, Transfiguration now, let's go..." 

            The day passed fairly quickly. In Transfiguration, they transformed their desk-chairs into badgers. In Charms, they put the Operatis charm on each other, which gave everyone a few good laughs among loud opera singing. In Herbology, they healed Neville's foot fungus with the Bertelates. In divination, they studied the age of death of specific students ("Harry! Oh, I'm sorry! Age _15?_ What a poor, poor tragedy.... and you haven't even seen the _world_ yet!" "Er, neither have you, Professor, though you might if you ever came out of your tower"). In Care of Magical Creatures, they searched for any signs of hatching Fwoopers ("Oh look! The pink one is starting to brighten! It should hatch tomorrow sometime!"). 

            Band class was by far the most exciting. Professor _Dumbledore_ taught, and he had arranged for the Wicked Wizards of the West to be there to try and find a instrument for every one.  Callista had already played an instrument for a year, the bassoon.  Every one, except Harry and Hermione, were amazed how many people (mainly the guys) suddenly seemed interested in the odd instrument.  Harry was very confused on what to take because he had never been the musical type.  he remembered playing with sticks when he was little and playing all different kinds of beats, picking out the ones he liked the most.  He still remember some of them, so he headed over to the percussion section and asked to have a go at the drums.  The drummer agreed and Harry picked his favorite and played it.  "Woah dude, you're a natural at this!  did you ever take lessons?"  the drummer seemed ecstatic that a 'drummer prodigy' lived at Hogwarts.  leaving the percussion stand, harry bumped into Ron who carried a huge tuba that resembled a giant crushed gold can.  "Isn't it beauteous?"  he whimpered. 

            "Uh, sure?" said Harry, "But I thought you were gonna play bassoon. I saw you trying out." He elbowed him playfully. 

            "Ah, well, I was...." he blushed terribly, "I was better at tuba, or so the auditioner said."

            "Besides," laughed Callista, joining them, "On the bassoon you sounded like a dying duck with a nasal infection." 

            Ron blushed further. "Hey! All bassoons sound like that, you know it." 

            "Not if they have talented players," retorted Callista proudly. 

            They crossed the room to where they spotted Hermione's bushy hair, and upon approaching her table, they saw her setting down a black electric guitar with red flames up the sides. Harry blinked, wide-eyed, and Ron cracked up. 

            "Very nice, Herm. So, what'd you decide to play? Clarinet? Flute?" 

            "Oh, just a little stringed instrument," she said, giggling, walking with them towards the door to head off to Potions. 

            "Violin?" 

            "Electric guitar," she said flatly. 

            "Viola? Cello?" 

            "No, Ron, ELECTRIC GUITAR." 

            "Ha ha, Herm, what? I've guessed everything?" 

            She glared. 

            "Oh, oops, trumpet, right? No? Saxophone!" 

            "Ron, listen to me!" By this time Callista was laughing, and Harry was trying hard not to exasperate Hermione further, but couldn't help but chuckle a bit unbelievingly. 

            "Oh, yeah, sorry, _stringed_. Um, what...? Oh, BASS!" 

            "RON! THIS IS NO GUESSING GAME! I HAVE TOLD YOU STRAIGHT OUT! **_E...LECT....RIC.....GUI....TAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" _**

**_            "_**_What?" _he stammered, seeing for the first time she was serious. "But... but...." 

            "What?" said Callista defensively, her laughing ending abruptly, "What, so a _girl_ can't play electric guitar, huh?" She stood tall. 

            Ron cowered. "Um, no, no, you're reading me all wrong, it's just that, uh, _Hermione_ just isn't, I dunno, the-"

            "What, the electric guitar type? Well, Ronald Weasley, I've tried to put up with you lately, but you know what? I think there's gonna be a lot of things that aren't gonna seem _my type_. But you're gonna have to get over it and grow up some day! Come on, Calli." She and Callista stalked off, Calli, looking sympathetically back at Ron, biting her lip. 

            Harry stared in their direction. He swatted Ron over the head. Hard. "Ron, you idiot! Why can't you just... get along with her? It's true, she has been putting up with you a lot lately and your stupid jokes!" 

            "What? Hey, it's not that big of a deal! Don't you think she's over-reacting just a little? I mean, come on! All I did was try and guess what she was playing-" 

            Harry sighed. "Ron, you _know_ how girls are, with their girl-power stuff and being all defensive-like all the time." 

            "Yeah, I know, I know. You know Harry? That _is_ a good thing to remember..." 

            "Uh-oh, Ron," said Harry, seeing the glint in his best friend's eyes, "You agreed with me. About girls. That's not a good sign." 

            "Ho, pal, I just thought of a bloody brilliant way to make us rich, smart, and popular with the girls!" 

            Harry groaned and put his head in his hands as they entered the dark potions room and sat down. Ron sat next to him. 

            "No, no, it's a good idea! We write a book."

            "A _what?"_ exclaimed Harry, wondering what in the world would inspire his friend to actually do something involving thought, or work. 

            "A book! And we'd call it..." He stared at some invisible object, placing his hands in the shape of a rectangle in front of him, "_How To Understand Women." _ 

            Harry stared. That _was_ the stupidest thing he'd ever heard of, and yet somehow... somehow.... 

            "Ron! You're right!" He jumped up and stood up in his seat, shouting, "That _is _bloody brilliant!!!!" Then he realized what he was doing, glanced around quickly at the staring eyes in his direction, especially at the four angry eyes of Hermione and Callista, and sat back down, blushing furiously. _Great,_ he thought, _now they're mad at me, too. Oh well! I'm rich! I'm brilliant! It's genius!!_

            "I'm rich! I'm brilliant! It's genius!" exclaimed Ron excitedly, "Wadda you think?" 

            "It should be easy! I mean, we hang out with that girl-" he gestured toward her, and she glared further from across the room, "-well, _those_ girls now, I guess, so much, that it should be a snap! Let's get started!" 

            Ron grinned and grabbed a piece of parchment. Then frowned. 

            "Hey, Harry, you know, we're gonna have to make friends with them again, though, if we're gonna write this-" 

            Harry slapped him over the head again. "Ron, you really can be rude sometimes! Of _course_ you're gonna have to make friends with them, and not just for the book! Ron, we're best friends with Hermione, remember?" He conked him on the head a few more times before pulling the parchment towards himself, sucking on the end of his quill. He put his pen to the paper, but just then, Mrs. Everett strolled in. 

            Wait a minute, that wasn't right, thought Harry, she _strolled_? He and Ron stared as she _strolled _happily up to the front, and called role in the sweetest voice that could rival a kindergarten teacher on her first day. She didn't have a problem with everyone chatting today, they all fell into complete silence when they saw her behave the way she did. When all was done, she took out a piece of parchment, apparently with the seating arrangement on it. 

            "Okay, everyone," she said excitedly, "Do you know what we get to do now?" Silence. "Class? Well, I'll tell you, then! We get to..." she did a little drum roll with her hand on her desk, "Duh-duh-duh-duuuuh!" she sang in that "Here it is!" sort of tune, "The SEATING ARRANGEMENT!" She looked exuberantly around the class, evidently expecting some sort of excited outburst. There was none, only Ron exchanging glances with Harry. What was with their new previously-corrupt teacher? What was with this little kid's act, as if they were pre-schoolers? And the little voice was getting really tiresome by now. She placed them all in their seats by touching their shoulders, pulling them up, and leading them to their new seats by force. This took quite a while, as she didn't know any of their names and she had to say, "Which one of you little darlings is Hermione?" each time she moved someone. By the time she was finished, class was almost over. Harry just happened to be behind Hermione, but in front of Draco. This, of course, could be a bad position, if Draco ever decided his frog guts could use a little tossing about and Harry was just perfectly positioned. 

            "Now," she said, "I'd like you to talk amongst yourselves in _inside_ voices," she put her finger to her mouth, "And, you know, get to know your neighbor a little. First everyone say 'Howdy neighbor!' to your new partner. Everybody?" There was a weak 'Howdy neighbor' among a few members of the class, most of them still staring in awe, many not knowing what howdy was supposed to mean. "Now," she said, "Chat!" 

            No problem. Harry turned to Seamus who was next to him. "Howdy, neighbor," he drawled in a Western accent. 

            "How's it goin', pardner?" 

            "Juuuust fine." 

            "Well that's mighty beauteous." 

            Class was over. Ron, apparently hoping to get a move-on with his book, hurried to walk with Hermione, Harry and Callista keeping their safe distance behind. 

            "Hey, Herm," he said, shyly. She turned and glared at him, then sped up the pace. He kept up. "Hey, Hermione, I just wanted to say how sorry I am for... for not treating you in a desirable fashion-" You could almost sense the smirk lying directly behind that scowl of Hermione's. _Desirable fashion?_ "I know to my full understanding that women are just as equally capable-" 

            "More," muttered Hermione, apparently beginning to accept the apology. 

            "Hm?" 

            "More. We're more-" 

            "Oh, yes, yes, you're _more_ equal. Uh, I mean capable of- of-" Harry's jaw practically brushed the floor. What was going on? He was nervous! Ron, who was practically Hermione's _brother_, was nervous talking to her! And Herm? She was just accepting the apology, no sweat? 

            "-capable of... everything. And especially totally rad musical instruments that I... I was jealous that you got to play. And were good at-" 

            "Amazing." 

            "Oh, um, yes, amazing." 

            "Good. Apology accepted." She grinned. "You are messed up, Ron Weasley." 

            "And proud of it." 

            Harry could hardly believe it. "Oh, how sweet!" whispered Callista into his ear, "They're friends again!" 

            "Yeah, yeah, okay..." they walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts class eager for a new lesson. 


End file.
